Misleading job advertisement of the year
The job that no one can stick. I wonder why?
The Alpine council has advertised for a new Economic Development & Tourism Co-ordinator, after the last one they appointed quit after just 3 months in the job. It seems no one measures up to this $90,000 per year position. Maybe, in order to attract the right candidate, they need to make a few alterations to the ad that appeared in Saturday’s Border Mail, such as:
Must have NEVER worked in the tourist industry.
Must know SFA about the tourist industry.
Must despise all tourist operators as greedy self-serving pigs.
Must be fluent in council spin-doctor speak.
Must know how to manipulate tourist numbers to make it look like the council is doing a great job.
Must be prepared to take orders from council staff & management who also know nothing whatsoever about tourism.
And, most importantly:
Must support the Alpine council’s policy of:
(a) not promoting the town of Bright as the iconic destination of the region.
(b) making no improvements whatsoever to the Bright CBD under the Bright Future Project.
The succesful applicant will also be required to take the following oath:
“I promise: To never even mention the word Bright in all council advertisements & marketing campaigns. To never make recommendations for improving the Bright streetscape & its tourist appeal. To always push the interests of the non-resident owners of Dinner Plain & the mountain resorts. To make sure that properties owned by board members get plenty of free market exposure. And to never pursue any developer who might want to bring a modern and up-market building to Bright.”
That should do it.
Promoting 'Beautiful Bright'.
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BENALLA RESIDENT LIKE TO HELP – PLEASE ALPINE SHIRE DONT THANK ME I AM HAPPY TO HELP
Ray I suggest Alpine Shire get in touch with Benalla Rural City Council for Alpine’s new Economic Development & Tourism Co-ordinator this one in Benalla does heaps of Bullshit in development (Benalla Saints Football Club Lakeside Clubrooms cost ratepayers millions and still not finished 15 years later) and to attract tourists, the Economic Development & Tourism Co-ordinator person in Benalla would be ideal for the Alpine Shire.
One more example:-
The Benalla Rural City Council has a sign board outside councils office building adjacent the foreshore that says ‘BENALLA HOME TOWN OF NED KELLY’ I have been to the Benalla Costume and Ned Kelly museum, Benalla Rural City council reception desk and even spoke to the Mayor Bill Hill; no knows or can tell me where Ned Kelly’s home is.
I spoke to Robert Barber council’s PR man, he said its just to attract tourists to Benalla!
I told him – The sign doesn’t even say where Ned’s home was and there is no house or home of Ned Kelly’s in Benalla…! Its a lot of Bullshit by Benalla Rural City Council and is misleading information and misleading tourists.
Is this, the new Economic Development & Tourism Co-ordinator for Alpine is this what you want? please take him from Benalla.
Benalla tries and runs on bullshit and its turning into a cesspool.
Ray,
We lost an excellent individual in Matt Taylor whose job they are now advertising. Matt knew his stuff, was enthusiastic and even better, he was very helpful. He returned to the City of Wodonga whence he came & I suspect he might have received an offer he couldn’t refuse.
Similarly, Libby Bain, Tourism Marketing Officer and Birgit (? surname) who was their PR/Publicity person have both resigned for their own reasons.
I suspect there’s a morale problem within the Shire when they can’t hang onto people with talent.
Your post is typical Ray Dixon so I won’t comment on your prose except to say that the problem is more serious than you surmise.
the problem is more serious than you surmise
Yes, Noel, it’s a disaster. As I’ve said for years, the Alpine council has the wrong attitude to the tourism industry – they think they can tell the industry how it should be run. But the council couldn’t run a chook raffle.
Economic Development is not just attending to tourism. Whilst this industry is vital to Bright in particular and the Shire in general, other commercial/agricultural pursuits are just as important.
We have around 12,000 people living here, and if we assume that say 3,000 are earning a living from tourism (that’s my guess, assuming Bright’s population and extrapolating it into the other areas), then industry & agriculture are significant areas for future economic growth as well.
It seems to me, reading your blog, that the people of Bright are somewhat divided about new tourism infrastructure. There’s limited scope in Bright for industrial or agricultural initiatives, and this means that places like Myrtleford have a major role to play in creating future wealth and social cohesion.
I reckon the job is worth more than $90k p.a. The problem is first finding the right individual, secondly, paying them what they are worth, and finally, letting them get on with it!
Noel, your figures are misleading.
Tourism accounts for at least 60% of the shire’s economy, if not more. And I think you’ll find that more than 30% are directly employed, PLUS, don’t forget that more than 50% of our population are not employed at all (being retirees and kids).
Therefore tourism accounts for more than half the jobs! And those not employed in tourism indirectly benefit from it anyway.
Agriculture is a diminishing industry so it behoves the council to develop tourism and residential growth as our key industries for the future. And, as 80% plus of tourism exists in & around Bright, it means we must focus on Bright, as our key strength for building a better future for the entire region.
Btw, it really matters not that people are “divided about new tourism infrastructure” – if something needs to be done, then it should be done, regardless of popular opinion.
Ray said,” if something needs to be done, then it should be done, regardless of popular opinion.”
This comment will come back to bite you ( I agree with the comment though). We elect a council to get the work done. If they relied on public opinion every time before making a decision, then the process would slow and we would often be seeking uninformed opinion. Sometimes I see a consultation process not as one where the consensus rules but where the Council educates the public as to why they are doing something and, at the same time, learn local knowledge that they may not have had that can also inform the action they finally take.
Unfortunately some of the public of Bright assumes consultation means a referendum and this is not the case.
The supermarket is a good example. The land was zoned and so a supermarket had every right to go there. John Carter, at his public meeting, clearly articulated the role the public could have under the planning scheme and it was quite limited. Nevertheless, Council consulted to try to get the best outcome they could knowing the constraints of the planning scheme.
BTW Woolies seem to be going all out to produce a stunning supermarket. A developer could not have afforded to do this. I can’t wait until it opens so the car-parking problem in Ireland St is freed up as well as hopefully lowering the prices. It will be interesting to see if the spending leakage to Myetleford and Wangaratta is lessened.
Noel, you always give very reasoned arguments, but in this case I think Ray’s statistics are more accurate. On the other hand Ray, the other towns pay there rates and also need to be looked after and kept sustainable.
I look forward to hearing we have a new, dynamic economic development and tourism officer,
Thanks for your very informed comments, Suzie, although I’m not sure how mine will come back to bite me.
As for Woolies you are spot-on. It is looking great and those who objected may have to eat their words.
I agree that the council has to look after all towns, not just Bright, but this is a question of priorities. From what I see I don’t think Bright is given the priority it deserves. As the centre of the shire’s most important industry, improvements to Bright’s tourist-related infrastructure should be of the highest priority, yet we are seeing, for instance, the council develop Myrtleford’s town centre to improve its tourist appeal while the Bright Future Project is just forgotten about.
As for the new Economic Development & Tourism Co-ordinator the council is seeking, the problem with this position is described in the very first paragraph of the advertisement: This is an exciting opportunity to drive growth and instigate new tourism initiatives. Tourism is a private industry and cannot be “driven” by a bureaucracy. The council does have a role to play in assisting the industry to grow but only as a facilitator. The Alpine council seems to see itself as being in control of tourism but all it is really doing is creating its own bureaucratic and self-serving little empire that has little to no relevance to the great bulk of the operators. There is a huge gulf between the ivory tower they have created and the actual industry itself. Their whole approach is wrong.
Ray,
If you were the new Economic Development and Tourism Co-ordinator, what 5-10 iniitiatives would you like to see go ahead (after redeveloping the clock tower of course) that the Council could help to facilitate.
I don’t disgree that Myrtleford seems to have more spent on it although most of the work being undertaken at the moment, is through grants and community sponsorship according to the Council website.
I look forward to reading your list.
The number one priority would be the FULL implementation of the Bright Future Project (which includes the clock -tower). You mention Government grants funding the Myrtleford works, well the same effort could have been made to obtain grants to fund the Bright streetscape works. Btw, the “community sponsorship” was towards the Ablett Pavillion not the town square. All of the Myertleford CBD works are publicly funded.
As for 2, 3, 4, 5 etc, in no particular order:
The Rail Trail being extended to Harrietville.
A program to hand control of the promotion of tourism away from council and over to the industry itself, where it belongs.
Attracting a major holiday resort to Bright.
Attracting small manufacturing to Myrtleford, mainly industries that service the building & tourist industries.
Rezoning some of the shire’s non-productive farming land away from rural zones to ‘lifestyle residential’ zones that would allow sub-division into 5 or 10 acre lots attracting new residents/treechangers who would stimulate the economy with their spending.
Also, finding land (shire wide) that would be suitable for eco-tourism projects and seeking out developers to look at investing in same.
That’s off the top of my head. If I put my mind to it I think I could come up with a list of about 100 ideas – and they’d be shire wide, not just about Bright.
I agree with all of your points. I also like the ideas put forward by the Bright Framework Committee The Bright Future Project). It must be very frustrating being chosen to go on a committee, have public meetings, organise alternative designs to put forward and then nothing happens. Do you know why no progress has been made on the plans? It is public backlash or lack of funds.
We are almost out of acre and half acre blocks now so I’d like to see these go ahead as well as the 5 and 10 acre blocks. Our Land Review, which has only just been ratified, was already old by this point and needs to be revisited as we are heading for a land shortage.
The rail trail extension to Harrietville will be wonderful as it is such a pretty spot and such a pretty drive to get there. We usually go for a drive there each week to grab an ice cream and sit by the river or have a Devonshire tea at the Lavender Farm.
BTW I understand that the Alpine Shire has $100,000 or so apart from the GAVTB from which it runs some of its tourism advertising (I made enquiries after our last discussion on this issue). My concern in regard to this, is that calls go to the Alpine Visitor’s Centre which then charges operators 11% commission if bookings are made through them. While I understand the need for a contact point this seems a little self-serving.
Perhps in this land review the Council could identify land that could be used for an eco tourist resort or other major resort so the new Economic Developmet Officer and Tourism Co-ordinator had something to approach major players with.
I also look forward to seeing the final report, which should be produced by the shire, after its public meeting to gain community ideas on the furture of tourism and infrasturcture priorities etc (unless I have miised seeig the report and it is out already).
I keep messing up my email address and getting new images against my name.
“Do you know why no progress has been made on the (Bright Future) plans? It is public backlash or lack of funds.”
It’s neither, Suzie.
Firstly, there is some apathy in the community towards the Bright Future Project but that should not be a detterant to doing what has to be done.
As for funding, I’m sure the State Govt (Federal too perhaps) would respond favourably to a serious council submission that highlighted how important Bright is, not just to the shire’s economy, but also to the economy of the entire north east and indeed the State itself.
As Bright attracts tourists from Australia-wide it shouldn’t be hard to convince Mr Brumby et al that it’s worth investing a few $million here … if only we had the will to try. My belief though, is that the stumbling block is the council itself (i.e. the actual councillors).
You would think that as we have 3 councillors from the Bright area they’d be behind this project, but I know for fact that Narda Cain is opposed to it. As for Daryl Pearce, I think he’s ambivalent about it and Mark Steven … well I seriously doubt he’s even aware of it (but given his opposition to development, he’d probably oppose it too).
As for the $100,000 extra council advertising, I’m not surprised that they’re pouring money into propping up the Alpine Visitor Centre. I think this runs contrary to the interests of the overall campaign and contrary to the interests of the operators.
I mean, we already pay the special rate to fund tourism promotion, then we have to pay extra just to be listed on the VIC’s website, then they take 11% commission. The bottom line is that accommodation places are better off running their own campaigns and not being part of the Alpine VIC (like we do). Quite frankly, there is no need to pay the VIC a commission for bookings you can just as easily obtain yourself.
Thanks for you input.
I take it then you won’t be applying for the job. Its a pity. You’ve done a lot to promote the region and your business experience should count for something. This job requires someone with leadership qualities and a sense of vision. Come on Ray go for it.
Thanks for your vote of confidence, Lee, (or are you Nick Malkin?), but it doesn’t pay enough.