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FAIR DINKUM AUSTRALIAN RATINGS FDR 1Star 
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Our "Greekarah" Exposé
The Kogarah Council Greek Clique
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"... and the frustrating thing is that there is money around - you see some really Wollongong-esque developments around the area. Especially with the ridiculous Rockdale and Kogarah Council boundaries - if ever 2 council should take the lead of what they are doing in Queensland, it's these two. The boundary is shaped like a long bottle neck. 50 metres from Kogarah station, north, east and west (i.e. not south) you are living in Rockdale Council. This means Mayor Nick Katris' Kogarah Council can build a blatant baroque monument to the Greek clique (previous Mayor Nickolas Varvaris - are these Greek surnames by any chance?!) - the new "Kogarah Town Square" complex - sided with the Greek Orthodox Church at one end facing 100 metres away past the river fountain - the most expensive (just the salary bill alone - talk about over-staffing) local Council Library (considering the low income demographic that uses it, though some aren't too bad off - they run their business from there re the free Internet connection) you will ever see (certainly leaves Rockdale for dead), and on the other sides the new town house complexes - seemingly only occupied by Greeks, as every Sunday morning they come streaming out of the lifts dressed in all opulent black, strolling down the hill 'to be seen' at the church. All the while the bulk of Katris' rate payers are the upper income demographic miles away out at Kogarah Bay, Oatley... - i.e. don't even use the new library facility, but they certainly fund it. And then we have the dangerous main street interection of Kogarah where people get wiped out standing at the bus stop - with the recent death of young and talented Emma Hansen reported on the 6 o'clock News - finally forced to do something - what does Katris do first - starts expensive main street modifications with pretty flower beds down the other end of the shopping centre, first. Yep, you guessed it - the entrance to their Greekarah Town Square. Couldn't just hire some big concrete barricades for people standing at the bus stop straight away. It's been an a case of a serious accident waiting to happen for years - the Council should have done something long ago - Emma's death could have been avoided. Now, how many more people have to be killed before they do a proper upgrade. We should sue the Council for negligence and use the damages awarded to start our school (except we have Buckley's chance of finding a fair dinkum lawyer in Sydney!) The Prime Minister has got to see this display of pork barrelling for himself. Come on Nick how about getting behind a building construction that will help the other 49 cultures - you've got a "Youth Week 5 April" banner over the library - now is the perfect time (not to mention Harmony Day on 20 March) to come on board and make an announcement. Seriously though, if Kogarah Council chooses deafening silence on this issue, then we really need Premier Morris Iemma to get ICAC in here like they did in Wollongong and sack the whole council. IAE, the commonsense thing to do here is immediately amalgamate Rockdale & Kogarah Councils. Straight off you have a significant saving in personnel cost and duplication - no doubt millions of dollars. And there, my fellow fair dinkum parents, is a big chunk of the funding we need for our new school. And unlike Kogarah Council our investment and staffing would be productive - and it would be a major injection to the local economy. And be a role model for the whole country, internationally even ..." |
Greekarah Square (Google Maps) Talk about separation of church and State! 
Kogarah Greek Orthodox Church Eastern end of Kogarah Town Square 
Kogarah Square Apartment Complex 
Kogarah Square Fountain 
Kogarah Library Western end of Kogarah Town Square "National Youth Week 5 April" - Good timing to support BBPSCA! 
As soon as you enter, unsurprisingly the Greek section is in your face. 
The new Kogarah Library has 23 "free" Internet Computers in 3 different areas spaced around this huge local library. 
Squeezed in this tiny room Rockdale Library has 5 Internet Computers that you have to "pay" to use - on this day only 2 were working, earlier in the morning the staff said none were. And remember Rockdale is a "City" library. 
Tucked away in this little building is Oatley Library part of Kogarah Council. The rate payers who use this library, with 2 "pay" Internet Computers, are actually funding all the free Kogarah Library Internet computers used mainly by Rockdale rate payers! 
A year on since the unnecessary death of Emma Hansen still nothing has been done to make this long-time dangerous intersection safer. 
After Emma's death Mayor Katris upgraded the other end of the main street first - the entrance up to "Greekarah" Square 
A year ago, March '07, the "horror crash in Railway Pde at Kogarah - in which talented student Emma Hansen was killed and 11 others were injured..." (Daily Telegraph) How many more people have to die before Mr Katris does something. We should sue the Council for negligence and use the damages awarded to start our school! And dedicate it to Emma Hansen. 
Rockdale & Kogarah Boundaries 
Nick Katris - Kogarah Mayor [More coming soon...] |
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