I am writing to you today as a former Project Manager with Youth Connections Inc.

as it was then known, I have over 40 years experience working in the employment, training and education sectors and have a enduring commitment to helping the young people of the Central Coast. I am raising some issues addressed to your actions specifically and others of a broader nature re the legal responsibility of councillor and the councils procedures and policies in regard to tenders. At the Wyong Council Meeting on the 26/6/2013 you made a number of serious allegations against Youth Connections (sic) . Firstly I would like to give you some facts about the organization you so recklessly attacked. youthconnections.com.au. is a community based non for profit organization. It helps young people make the transition from education to work. It partners with most schools across the Central Coast, working with disadvantaged, disengaged, at-risk, disabled and aboriginal youth as well as mainstream students through a wide range of specifically targeted programs. It also works in the Hunter, the North Shore of Sydney and Western NSW. Their site Green Central at Kariong is unique in Australia and has been recognized internationally. The Board of youthconnections.com.au, the staff and the CEO Maggie MacFie have a real commitment to social justice and helping young people. In an area with such high youth unemployment youthconnections.com.au is one of the organizations making a real difference in the lives of young people. Some observations about your statements If you are going to make allegations about an entity whether it be a person or organization a good start would be to get the name correct. I presume the organization you refer too as Youth Connections is the community based non-for-profit organization youthconnections.com.au. The facts contained in your accusations are false. As a local government representative I would expect that you would have made some effort to check the veracity of your claims before raising them in a public forum. These accusations you have made are so serious they would reflect not only on the organization but the reputation of the CEO and the members of the Board itself. When applying for grants or tendering to provide services or deliver programs an organizations reputation has to be beyond reproach. Damaging a community organizations reputation has massive ramifications for its commercial viability and could effect tender applications that are currently ongoing. Your statement re the mass resignation of the Board is incorrect. Every year there is turnover of Board members for various reasons. The role of a Board member on non for profit board is quite onerous with financial and legal obligations and no recompense for their services. The Board members come from the education, government, industry with some self employed running a business or consultancy. They volunteer their services and time, not for money but because they have a commitment to young people. Three of the current board have completed The Australian Institute of Public Directors Governance Training. The statement re the resignation of the financial officer is also incorrect. The current finance officer has been employed for 3 years. What I expect you mean is the treasurer. Mr Richard Cook was the treasurer for youthconnections.com.au for over 4 years and a Board member for thirteen years. He resigned in June 2012 because of ill health. Mr Cook still has regular contact with the organization, is well regarded and respected in the local education community. He was the careers adviser at Gorokan High for many years and more recently DECs Regional Vocational Education Consultant. He is well known in the wider community for organizing and co-ordinating the annual Central Coast Careers Market and is a committee member on the Central Coast Apprenticeship and Traineeship Committee. Mr Ian Leslie was appointed treasurer in September 2012 and has remained in the role since that date. You did not expand on your concerns about probity, governance and nepotism. A perusal of the youthconnections.com.au website, their annual report or the simple act of telephoning the CEO and asking for an explanation or clarification of your concerns would seem to be the least you could have done before making such damaging accusations in a public forum. It is standard practice of good governance for an organization the size of youthconnections.com.au to have policies and procedures in place addressing issues you have raised. These include organizational policies and procedures compliant with all government legislation and Disability Service Standards. By questioning the probity

and governance of the organisation the reputation and capabilities of the CEO and members of the current Board are poorly reflected. As a rate payer I am concerned you have created the possibility of a legal case being instigated against the council for defamation At its simplest, defamation is to spread bad reports about someone which could do them harm. Without going into the full details and legalities of the situation here, it would seem you have defamed youthconnections.com.au, their directors and the CEO. If the allegations you have raised are proven to be false, as a community-based organization they have every legal right to sue. The questions I have for you and the council as a whole are1) If a defamation action was to begin are you solely responsible for your own rash actions or is the council liable to bear the costs? 2) Has the actions of the Mayor in allowing potential defamatory statements to be raised without comment failed in his Duty of Care to the council (and the rate payer) and in-turn created a legal case for the council to answer. 3) What policy and procedures are in place to prevent similar situations repeating in the future. 4) If a councilor is shown to be acting inappropriately or illegally. What course of action is open to the council.

Finally I am interested why you raised these issues in the first instance. You seem to have little understanding about what youthconnections.com.au is about. You state that one of the reasons you raised these issues is because of concerns with the organizations dealings with Wyong Shire Council. This consists of only two interactions. youthconnections.com.au rents part of the Gravity Youth Centre to run after school care for young people with disabilities. A team consisting of 2 team leaders, 1 aboriginal trainee and 2 trainees with disabilities carry out regeneration of vegetation activities in the Shire. I expect someone who was elected on an environmental platform would support this great outcome which helps both the environment and provides young people with training and work. youthconnections.com.au has no other contractual relationships of any sort with Wyong Shire Council. So the question arises Why the sudden interest in the affairs of youthconnections.com.au? Where did you get the false information you raised in council? Does the same level of concern extend to the issue of transparency, probity and governance in regard to the councils dealings with Central Coast Group Training of which Councillor Best is General Manager and Mayor Eaton was the former Chair of their Board? A recent case in-point was the Tender process to provide Group Training Services to the council. After waiting 6 months to receive an answer on the process. It took an email from youthconnections.com.au to elicit an answer which was confirmed by a form letter 2 days later. This was lazy at least and gives an impartial observer that the process was purely perfunctory. It also is concerning that in-confidence commercial information as part of a tender process is supplied to council and that the successful organization is intimately connected to two current councillors. What arms length processes were put in place by the administrative staff to avoid conflict of interest? Who decided the successful tender, and as there was no feedback to unsuccessful tenderers, were councillors briefed on the process and the reasons for the decision in favour of Central Coast Group Training? From the public record I learnt that your election campaign was funded by Councillors Best and Eaton and their wives as well as a sizeable donation from The Liberal Party. I expect your concerns re the public purse, probity and governance will not be extended to Central Coast Group Trainings relationship to the Council. The young people of Wyong Shire desperately need assistance with one of the highest rates of youth unemployment in NSW. Placing young people in apprenticeships and traineeships are part of the answer but for the vast majority of young people their individual problems and issues requires a more holistic approach. youthconnections.com.au through partnerships with the community, schools, training institutions, and young people, implement innovative programs that target specific needs.

youthconnections.com.au whole business plan is based on working collegially and in partnerships with other organizations and government. Elements within Wyong Council seem to be extremely hostile to the organization. It is difficult to ascertain if this is due to misinformation or an assumption that they are seen as some sort of perceived threat to the commercial interests of other members of council. Either way their attitude is doing a disservice to young people and their families of the shire. My first reaction on reading the council minutes was that you were displaying a certain naivete from someone who was unfamiliar with the sector. However the fact that you have made no effort to check any of the serious accusations you have made, it appears you have made a willful decision for your own reasons to damage the public and commercial reputation of a fine organization. SHAME ON YOU. I await your reply to the matters I have raised with interest. Bruce McDowall