Explain investment figures
That sketchy information in the Gosford Council media release about the sale of its overseas investment is not signposting an end to ratepayer's misery - not by a long stretch.
But it does justify the ridicule directed at the mayor after his published assertion in the Express Advocate on April 23: "We have not lost a bloody cent".
The following day the Express Advocate posted my comment online: "The mayor has a credibility problem, but then so do some others discussing the loss of our rates money".
We are still to have explained to us in simple, easy to understand terms just how much we have lost after council went speculating in those dodgy CDOs.
The sale was for 21.75 per cent of what initial outlay?
How many millions did we spend buying the Lehman Brothers property note in the first place?
And what went south in other CDOs?
And the $54.4 million net profit since 2002 identified in the council's media release of on November 19?
This does prompt the question: What about the non-CDOs Gosford Council invested in since 2002 and what was the net profit on those investments?
Just what are all the numbers on those non-CDOs which ratepayers shelled out for?
It is way past time all our councillors insisted our council website be used to properly inform us of all the numbers.
The run of the mill, not too risky, lower return, usual safer investments, and the AAA CDOs side-by-side so there is no doubt what went on.
Explain exactly what our council has done to our fiscal resources with its speculation.
It's our money and you are not entitled to refuse to inform us.
Email, 25 Nov 2009
Edward James, Umina