New years are customarily about the year ahead: Looking to the future, making resolutions, leaving the past behind. This is especially true when the past year is 2020!
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But time doesn't have natural borders. What happened in 2020 doesn't stay in 2020.
The Corona Virus has mutated and globally the deaths are increasing. The November world celebration of the end of Trump hasn't prevented Trumpism mutating into a violent insurrection inspired by a sore loser and fuelled by conspiracy theories.
The Armidale Regional Councillors are back but with restrictions on their power due to events throughout 2020 that culminated in a court case and a suspension.
Valuable staff have left which affects our capacity to respond to community needs.
No doubt it's a glorious part of the human psyche to be optimistic and look ahead and try to shape the future into a better place than the past.
It is in this spirit that the Mayor has resolved to leave the traumatic events of 2020 behind and move on.
But how do you shape a better future if you don't learn from the past?
Today - a few days after the violent uprising in America, Republicans are saying it's time to move on. Time to heal and unite. But how can they heal when they are still cleaning the blood from the floor of the Capitol? How can they move on when millions of people still believe the lie that the election was rigged?
Healing can only come after the reckoning: the truth, the consequences, and the apologies. Only then is there a path forward. Historians contend that the ghost of confederacy lingers still because there has never been a true reckoning.
There were little consequences for those soldiers who tried to split the nation to hold onto slaves. The truth is still not really taught in southern schools. The scar is there because there has been no healing. The same is true about our frontier wars with the original custodians of the land. The Rudd apology has at least made a step towards accountability.
And accountability is essential to democracy. But we can't hold people accountable if we whitewash the past in some misguided notion that ignoring bad things will make things better.
I am looking forward to this year. I'm looking forward to representing the people's wishes, of ensuring the community's questions are answered and that they are part of the decision-making process as much as possible, and so far, I like what I see.
The Mayor is sharing information with councillors daily, the staff are being extremely supportive, the council meetings have been blessedly absent of vitriol and I'm starting to see the chambers as not the fearful room I experienced last year.
I have just met the new General Manager and he is very keen to support us to make good things happen.
But I respectfully differ with the Mayor on one small thing. It's not quite time to forget what happened.
People have not been held accountable.
You, the citizens of the Armidale Region, were six months without democracy - actually, longer! Before that, councillors were stymied in their efforts to fulfill their duty to you because they were constantly legally threatened.
You have relied on one-sided information and you were lied to.
Because there will be no reckoning, no consequences for those who lied and disregarded the wishes of the community, and no apologies sadly there will always be a segment of the community who will never be reconciled.
This year must be about learning from history to shape a better future. But first we must find the truth.
The court case answered a great many questions about how we got to where we are. How much you were played and lied to. The finance and other reports from the administration period have made further steps in answering those questions that still concern us all: Why are we in debt? How much was kept from the councillors, and therefore you?
However, unlike the past, the current staff and all councillors are keen to investigate your questions.
Community trust can only be rebuilt if you trust the people who represent you. That's why councillors are currently organising as many meetings with the people as we can. We need to work with you if we want to achieve anything.
Getting ahead with projects, fighting for fair rates, helping the community get value for their rates, and ensuring that decisions are made in public view can only be achieved by ensuring that last year's conditions are never repeated.
The processes are now being put in place to safeguard the interests of our community. Some of the restrictions placed on us are helpful and will ensure that we are given advice where we need it and that there will be proper oversight in the areas where people went rogue last year.
Democracy can be messy and not everyone will be happy with decisions made by council but it is always your council, not the play thing of a few privileged people to feather their own nests.
And anyone who decides to run for council this year please make sure you are willing to stand up for the people no matter what the personal repercussions. Because that's what it takes.
Best wishes for 2021.
