Touie Smith Snr has written an open letter, of which you have a copy, to the Yass Council about a number of issues which concern him and which really should be of concern to all of us, as well.

In his letter, Touie Smith says that "Council has not only gone back on its word to us but also continues to defend actions when the Deed of Agreement and community standards say otherwise and that the General Manager is leading Council down the same road we went last time and unfortunately some Councillors seem quite willing participants. We are citizens of Yass who stand for what is right and speak of what is wrong."

The Smiths address continuing issues such as the debacle which led to a direction to the very popular Crisp Galleries that they must close and, though this seems to be in abeyance,  it is an ongoing issue which never should have arisen. The issue of absurd and unenforceable traffic signs, damage to the streets with the use of inappropriate farm machinery, the non-appearance of a promised apology in the Mayor's Newsletter, dirty unpalatable water and unreliable pressures, the lack of a clear policy on stormwater and drains, a non-apology from two named Councillors for inappropriate behaviour in their outbursts at Council, the lost opportunity of the Smith's very worthy proposals for the development of the Liberty Theatre now seemingly gone and the maintenance of trees in Comur and Lead Streets.

Of particular concern raised was the reasons behind the General Manager's changed employment conditions with his four year term being ended mid-term and then replaced with a further four year period with a $32k annual pay rise, which has never been explained to the community and all we got was a press release months later that it was to bring the terms into line with Council elections.

The restrictive "gag" order placed on two duly elected Councillors Frost and Jones should never have been applied and is still in place and smacks of the sort of restriction which President Putin of Russia might use to silence anyone who had the temerity to challenge his will. This isn't Russia though, Yass Council, and such unfair measures are absolutely unacceptable and should be immediately lifted.

It is reported that a broad issue troubling the State Premier Mike Baird is that, of the State's 152 Councils about 100 are running budget deficits with a collective debt of a billion dollars and with a massive backlog of urgent infrastructure projects, that they can't afford to fix and the Yass Council must certainly fit into this category and perhaps its future is in it merging with other Councils nearby to avoid the unnecessary duplication of expenditure and with the implementation of a more rational use of available funds.

Brian Millett