Cr Doug Thompson's mysterious abacus

Fremantle market business owners have often commented that they feel that they have been thrown to the dogs by Fremantle Council. That, and a whole lot more, but I’ll use this as the milder version of the general dismay and overall frustration and disappointment repeatedly expressed.

To hear themselves referred to as ‘dislodged’ or their diabolical treatment described as ‘unintentional consequences’ is sickening and abhorrent. How can they claim the consequences were unintentional when they were made aware of them loudly and publicly right from the beginning?

When the swearing, anger, outrage and confusion subside there are always the questions: why, what’s going on? How did it happen? What don’t they get….?

Of course, there are conspiracy theories; who is in bed with…? Are they incompetent, lazy or ignorant? Is it personal? Was it deliberate?

Well, I don’t have any concrete answers myself, but like many others, I have held the belief that at some level they all know they did the wrong thing, and providing they can find a solution which saves them publicly admitting fault or being held accountable or liable they would, at the very least, try to band aid what they could.

Last months council meeting ended any delusions we might have entertained; the meetings, reports, mediation, blah, blah and blah…

I have been contacted by people who were appalled at Robert Fittock’s comment, and one person said:

…Cr Fittock of course had his turn. What a nasty piece of work he is. He has obviously forgotten he was elected to assist the people of the community, instead he relishes in demeaning and insulting the disenfranchised stallholders. He stated - the disenfranchised stallholders made their bed! I can’t remember if he actually said 'they deserve what they get, but he certainly inferred it. He was definitely out of line and the mayor should have told him to pull his head in.

However, the real knife in the heart came from Doug Thompson. Crowing like a Cock in a hen house, he delivered his facts about the 43 ‘dislodged’ businesses:

4 left before negotiations
16 Sold their business at an average $59,000.00
3 Retired
5 signed a new lease
1 on a new agreement
6 were month by month due to future relocation
7 were casual and
1 was terminated

Jamie Murdoch’s outrageous claims that the average takings per stall was $10,000 per week-end, 40,000 customers each week spend around $35 per head, average rent at $300 per week and that only one person has been evicted. Council has accepted all of this as fact and we have not only disputed this but given truer figures. Why won’t council do the numbers themselves?

The stallholders association not only counted the 43 but publicly read them all out by name. They didn’t even include the employees in that count and as that was a few months ago we could now add more names and numbers.

None of our 43 people had signed any new lease so please explain how 12 of your ‘facts’ are classified as having left the market whilst at the same time signed onto new agreements?

If Thompson asserts that he has factual knowledge of 16 people selling at an average of $59,000 then I ask him publicly to supply us with the names of those people. Also, was this ‘one termination’ (eviction) Steve, Richard, Colin or Ed?

After two public rallies; one on council steps, dozens of letters and emails from stallholders, council meetings overflowing with angry stallholders, countless media articles and the obvious vacant spaces at Fremantle markets, I can not accept Cr Thompson is that ignorant - it appears to be malicious or deliberately incompetent.

Mayor Pettitt, Cr’s Fittock and Thompson would serve the people of Freo more effectively if they were to visit the office of Adele Carles and do a thorough tally of the financial losses reported to her office and gain some insight into the trauma and heartache of their actions rather than crow out Murdoch cronyism.

Or, for that matter - read through their own transcripts!

Cr Fittock was honest enough to admit that he didnt read through all that mail but this seems to suggest that Doug Thompson hasn't seen, heard or known anything and yet he claims to understand everything.

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Fremantle councils dislodged stallholders

In my last post I referred to the ‘pollie speak’ of Fremantle Council. In a carefully worded document they explained they were unable to include a representative of the stallholders association into the working group because the association no longer had any members left. Then they went on to say that they will continue to monitor the situation. (Really?)

In layman terms what this means is:
Due to the fact that we have been fart-arsing around for a year the problem seems to have gone away.

This month’s council minutes offers this gem:
“…or is council seeking to provide support for those stallholders that have been dislodged by unintended consequences of the new lease at the Fremantle markets…”

Dislodged stallholders? Unintended consequences? Oh please!

In layman’s terms:
Dislodged stallholders means: Shafted stallholders.
Unintended consequences means: Predictable outcome of our big F up.

For the full report see page 148 http://www.freofocus.com/council/resource/2010.03.24_Council.pdf
As usual, it seems that Freo Council are never sure if they are coming or going; on page 165 Cr Fittock gave us an insight:

LATE ITEM
At 8.28 pm Cr R Fittock left the meeting and returned at 8.28 pm.

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Fremantle Council and Fremantle Markets. What Tha?

Fremantle Council’s Report for March 2010 re Update on Fremantle Markets Alleged Breaches. For full report see:
http://www.freofocus.com/council/resource/Council%20Agenda%2024%20March%202010.pdf Page 84.

It just gets sillier as we move forward. The ex mayor pretty much wrote the proposal for the Murdoch’s as we saw in a 2006, Fremantle Herald front page article. He strongly promoted the idea of turning the market into a food venue. In that same article he even suggested that if the Murdochs opposed his vision he was prepared to buy them out of the remainder of the lease. When you look at the Murdoch proposal it almost looks like Tagliaferri could have written it himself.

Rather than put it out for tender council allowed a one horse race. The new lease was renewed years before the old lease expired; there was no urgency other than the fact that the ex mayor was soon to be vacating his seat and a well publicised threat by the Murdoch’s that they would run the markets into the ground, and some mention of flimsy litigation. More than one councillor later stated that they took these threats seriously and were persuaded to vote for the Murdoch’s on these issues. Some have since said that they regret that decision. Others stated that it was the very reason they strongly opposed the Murdoch application.

When hundreds of letters and emails were sent to council opposing the renewal, one councillor had to ask twice before she and the others got to see them. Another councillor later stated that he did not have time to read them. That same councillor recently stated that to his knowledge only one person had been evicted from the markets! I very clearly remember that councillor sitting in on all of the meetings in which stallholders spoke of evictions and being forced to walk away from businesses. Clearly, there were scores of articles about this in the papers and two public rallies. The last rally included the reading out of forty five names of people who had left the market since the new lease agreement.

The chairperson and the secretary of the stallholders association were evicted. When Mark and Gerry came on board and spoke publicly about their plight they were defamed in newsletters, had their stalls downsized, rents increased and offered only a monthly tenancy instead of the 5 year lease previously promised by both the Murdoch’s and the council; all making it impossible to continue and in effect ‘bullied’ into walking away from previously successful businesses with nothing. Many others who spoke out have also left due to similar treatment.

Within a year the stallholders association collapsed due to key people being evicted or shafted and no one else is now prepared to step up or speak out. Both the Murdoch’s and the council have robbed the market of any feedback, advice or protection from the people at the front line – the collective voice of the association . Stallholders are now as potent as pawns on a chessboard and are treated as such.

Brad Pettitt campaigned hard to be elected new mayor and made sweet statements about his concerns and made wishy washy promises about mediation and moving forward. Within weeks of being elected there was no stallholders association left and the best he has had to offer is a glib comment about the personality conflict between the parties. Meanwhile, more businesses have failed, customer numbers have greatly declined, businesses throughout the CBD are claiming it has impacted on them and there are now a number of official inquiries in progress.

Wouldn’t you think that the mayor and elected members would be scrambling to put things right? No. Everyone is blaming someone else and there is plenty of covering their tracks going on. But, getting back to the report and a very clear insight into the mindset of Glen Dougall, Director Corporate Services:

“Part 3 of the resolution of council in March, 2009, sought for a Working Group to be expanded to include a representative of the Stallholders Association. Whilst this matter has been discussed with FMPL on a number of occasions no agreement has been reached. The main reasons are that during the process the Stallholders’ Association were no longer viable due to lack of committee nominees and now lack of committee members. The City is of the opinion that it will continue to monitor the situation. With City officer members of the working group meeting with stallholders from time to time it is thought that any significant issues involving stallholders can be raised by the working group or by stallholders to ensure that matters are considered by the working group.

Officers will continue to monitor the situation and take action where it is deemed that FMPL are not operating in accordance with the Head Lease or the Operating Strategy. Any action will be so under the direction of the City’s legal team.”

It has taken them a year to talk about this one issue; private enterprise would have had it sorted in fifteen minutes. When you look back on all of the fart-arsing around that FCC has displayed you can only conclude that they deliberately stall making decisions knowing that if they wait long enough the problems will go away. This time - They are soooooooo WRONG. We will chase them down like rats in a drainpipe until we get answers.

It's all just another example of pollie speak and seeming to appear...I am so staggered by this that I am speechless.

Only one comment left in me, “Is this legal team the one who put the lease and the operating strategy together?” Of course it is.


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E-shed markets vs Fremantle market and Fremantle council

Hi Sonya,

I thought I would give you an update on some of us ex stallholder. We are VERY happily trading at E Shed markets: Scotty, Gerry, Sue, Billy & Fan, Richard and Myself. The management actually greet us with 'good morning' when they walk around the markets (yes, actually walk amongst the stallholders). Each week I have been at the E Shed the manager and/or property manager have approached me to enquire how the business is going and if there was any thing they could help me with. They also talk to other stallholders, listening if they have a problem (and then endeavouring to solve that particular problem) or asking for any input on how to improve the markets. Amazing!

This management are working towards filling the void the Freo Markets has left in the community. They are welcoming new stallholders without evicting old ones. They are building a market for locals to wander through (wondering what is around the corner for them to discover) a market where friends can meet or bump into each other, a markets where you can spend time enjoying yourself wandering through the diverse stalls, or a market to sit for breakfast, lunch, dinner or just a coffee and cake. We as stallholders are excited about the improvements and the positive attitude surrounding us at the E Shed markets.

I have also been approached by many customers, locals, and out of towners who express their sadness about how the Freo Markets are looking at the moment and of how the ex stallholders have been treated. They vow they will never set foot back in the Freo Markets and will be shopping at E Shed and supporting us all here.

I went to the council meeting last night and attached are a few comments I emailed to Georgie Adeane;

Hi Georgie,

I thought I would email you and give you my thoughts on last night’s meeting.

I’m pretty much a novice at this sort of thing and the procedures of Council meetings, so I must admit I don’t really understand a whole lot of what is going on. For example when the Mayor suggested going for dinner the first time, I think about 8.30-9pm, some of the Councillors suggested they jump ahead so as not to keep the people waiting any longer than needed and the Mayor agreed with this. The mayor then jumped ahead to item # 1002 which was debated for more than 45 minutes. Although I found it interesting I was also puzzled as to why Item # 1002 was discussed before Item # 1001. When this debate was finished, about 10pm, the Mayor then strongly suggested a break for dinner again, even though we were still sitting & waiting for item #1001, which to my mind was quite rude of him considering he had agreed before to not keep people waiting unnecessarily & he could obviously see we were still waiting. Thankfully he was out voted. This may seem a petty point, but for me I felt he was being pointedly inconsiderate.

Listening to some of these Councillors speak I was gobsmacked that one of them actually admitted that to ‘his knowledge’ only one stallholder had been evicted. Where has he been for the last 6 months? I would have thought as a councillor he would have felt it his responsibility to keep up to date on an issue affecting the community as much as Freo Markets issue has been. Does he not feel embarrassed to actually have said what he said? Also, beside the fact that more than one stallholder has been evicted, it is a very small line between total eviction and being evicted from a stall you paid a lot of money for and being offered a lease for an unsuitable, smaller stall in a back area near the toilets. He commented some stallholders had not taken up a lease they had been offered, it would be similar to him having invested time and money to be an elected member of council and being told by the mayor his seat was now delegated to the lobby during Council session. I actually could go on and on disputing what he said but I know you ask the same questions.

One more point I felt strongly about was another of the Councillors mentioned that ‘Council had no obligation to ex Freo Market stallholders’.
‘It also does not have an obligation to find other premises for their businesses.’
Amazing that they feel they have an obligation to the pine warehouse tenant but not to ex stallholders of the Freo Markets. 41 of them who have helped build the markets into the most popular markets in the state, or at least they used to be. The many businesses that have left the markets attracted customers into Fremantle who would have payed to use council facilities, and spent money at other businesses in the vicinity of the markets. And Councillors think they have no obligation to these people who are no longer at the market. Have any of these Councillors been through the market lately? Are they aware many locals will not support these markets? Is he aware many customers in the surrounding areas no longer support the markets? Is he actually aware of how few people purchase goods at the markets now? Is he also aware of the ill feeling towards the markets by the people of Perth who have been keeping up to date with what has been happening at the markets?

We sat and listened to a debate on the farmers market and heard that council does not want to lose these markets, but if you think about it, the number of stallholders lost out of the Freo Markets is equivalent to a farmers market and these stallholders lost to the Freo Markets are all stallholders that were popular with the people who visited the markets every week, and because it was in the centre of the town these were the people who paid for parking and then went on to buy a coffee or have lunch or breakfast at one of the other business along Markets St. This was for 3 days not just for 1 morning. Again these ex stallholders were more valuable to the economy of Fremantle than a farmers market.

I’m not trying to disparage the farmers market, more trying to give a comparison.

Most of the ex stallholders were permanent tenants, which should be a consideration, as any market that does not have lock up facilities would not be appropriate.

Georgie to be honest I am now at the E Shed Markets, as are a few other ex Freo Stallholders, and I am very happy with these markets and the management. Although I am making very little money it is a much nicer atmosphere and a lot of locals have expressed their support for myself, the E Shed and the other ex stallholders now also at the E Shed. I personally don’t feel an urgent need for another market at the pine warehouse but if it should eventuate as a market I would love to be part of it and will also support any other stallholders who do have an urgent need to lobby for this.

Many thanks for you support and I look forward to speaking to you again in the near future.

(Name withheld on my advice)
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Fremantle Markets - May be time for a tax audit?

A couple of interesting pieces from the Catalyse Survey, Council commissioned in the months before the lease was signed. Notice on the Intro page the Murdoch’s were uncooperative, not just to the survey company but also the Council, about releasing stallholders details - no surprises there.

The "suggestions" on page 2 reads like a Council list of "What should we ignore".

Introduction and research method

Under the terms of the Local Government Act 1995, should a Council be proposing to dispose a property with a transaction value over $1,000,000 then the sale is classified as a “Major Land Transaction”. Before entering into a Major Land Transaction the Council must first prepare a Business Plan, advertise the availability of the Business Plan for comment and then consider any submissions received in relation to the proposed transaction.
In September 2007 the City of Fremantle released an updated Business Plan for public comment.

In February 2008 CATALYSE was commissioned to conduct an independent research study among stallholders to determine levels of awareness and support for the Business Plan.

The study was designed by CATALYSE and administered by the ECU Survey Research Centre using Computer Assisted Telephone Interviews (CAT)
On request from the Market Managers, all interviewing was conducted between Monday 18February and Wednesday 20 February, 2008.

Stallholders’ details were sourced at (broken link) www.fremantlemarkets.com.au/whattosee.asp

- Additional contact information was supplied from the Fremantle Markets’ Stallholders Association, and from current and past Stallholders.
-While the City of Fremantle requested an up-to-date list of Stallholders from the current Market Managers, and also sought permission from the Market Managers to conduct an audit of stallholders to update contact details, both requests were refused. (WHY?)

111 stallholders completed a survey (from 146 contacts in the database.
- 21 contacts were unobtainable during the study period (incorrect details / called more than 10 times with no contact / etc)
- 14 stallholders were unable to participate (too ill) or refused.
- Of those who completed the survey, 86 were permanent and 25 were casual stallholders.

Survey data as received by CATALYSE and analysed using SPSS. To protect the privacy of individual participants, we only presented anonymous and aggregated responses in this report, individual survey responses are not released to the City of Fremantle, nor any other parties.

Strategic Insights

-Given that the new Business Plan affects all stallholders in Fremantle Markets, it is concerning that 1 in 5 stallholders surveyed have not read or heard others talking about the new plan
-When changes in the new Business Plan were tested among all respondents, the study revealed that there is majority support for the five year leases and for disputes to be handles through the State Administrative Tribunal.
-While most stallholders (68%) would like the City of Fremantle representatives to be included in the Work Group, a large minority (23%) oppose the involvement of the City of Fremantle in this group.
-Just over half the stallholders rated the performance of the current Market Managers as quite good or very good.
-Among those who have read or heard others talking about the Business Plan, many (64%) would be happy for the City of Fremantle to enter into a new lease with the current Market Managers.
- However, it should be noted that a large minority, 1 in 4 stallholders (27%) are NOT happy for the City of Fremantle to enter into a new lease with the current Market Managers.
-Furthermore, 24% of stallholders who participated in the study rated the performance of the current Market Managers as quite poor or very poor: 18% said performance was only ‘just acceptable’.

To address stallholders concern, consider the following suggestions:

-Consult the Fremantle Markets Stallholders association about the new Business Plan
-Include the Market Managers and representatives from both the City of Fremantle and the Fremantle Markets stallholders Association in the Working Group
- Agree on rules / guidelines for 1) setting and managing rent increases 2) tenure (including the location / relocation of sites) and 3) selling / purchasing stalls
-Consult stallholders about changing / extending trading hours for Fremantle Markets
- Improve the way the markets are managed (including greater transparency and fairness with decision –making, improved professionalism and better communication with stallholders)

My take:
None of the above concerns or suggestions have been taken seriously or implemented.

Why, with all the accountancy background of the Murdoch’s, would there be no complete or accurate database of stallholder contact details? Why has council not insisted that there should be one? Perhaps the ATO should do a thorough investigation on the record keeping at Freo markets; what other vital statistics are missing?

In light of the support in this study, might I refer you back to the letter sent out to stallholders by the Murdoch’s, asking for backing and making promises that persuaded stallholders to back them. You will clearly see why the stallholders and council now feel so betrayed. http://sonyagreen.blogspot.com/2009/12/trust-me-would-i-lie-to-you.html
Or, how about repeating the study Now.



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Adele Carles seeks compensation and justice

Hi Sonya,
In your most recent blog post you say people need to contact Adelle Carles. What sort of information is she wanting and to what end? Is there a possibility that the lease will be overturned and in that case would some or all of the people who left (excluding those who sold) return to the Market. In that case what will happen to the new people who have come in? Or is best case scenario that management will simply be made to behave more fairly in the future? Also you promise safety.
There is a real concern amongst some who supported the Murdochs in their bid for the lease that they will be punished by whoever takes over if the Murdochs are ousted. Obviously anyone with a brain and a heart is appalled by what is now happening but they can't help being afraid that they will be blamed and punished for past ill advised actions and decisions. What do you feel about this?
Regards
S


Dear S..,
Great letter and it addresses the feelings and thoughts of many. Can I post this? Without your name of course.

I have been a bit careful to not say too much about the plan of action. I am waiting on a press release from Adele but I'm sure the Herald today will have a public statement. The Gazette, next Tuesday, should also have a statement. I also expect other media to pick up the story within the next few days.

The main point she made on Sunday is that she is going to seek compensation for people who have suffered loss since the lease signing. What she needs is a record of who has been hurt and how the changes have adversely affected them. Stall downsizing, inappropriate relocation, profit downturn, high rents and monthly leases as opposed to the promised 5 year tenure. Writing a personal story and marking it confidential is all that is required at the moment. Anyone who believes that they have been forced out of the market.

She has also identified breaches and has a very strong case for legal action against the council. It will then be up to council to take action against the Murdoch's. It should never have been left to the stallholders association to do all the leg work and finance legal action. She has all the documentation now and the great news is that it is her team who will be financing the investigation. People in high places are now onboard...

I doubt that new stallholders will be disadvantaged in any way. These people are not the enemy and like everyone else they deserve a go. Backing the Murdoch bid was totally understandable as many were completely misled. Many needed to play under the radar and we understand that. This is not, and I stress not, about stallholders turning against stallholders. People have debts and mortgages and families and it is their right and obligation to do the best they can to protect themselves. Also, the Murdoch's charmed and courted a number of people, even councilors admit that with the information they had at the time they felt that the vote was qualified. We all get wiser in retrospect. Now is now and we know what we know...more will be revealed soon.

No one is seeking a slap on the wrist for the Murdoch's. Who would accept an apology or a promise from these people? The markets need to be stabilized and they need ongoing checks and balances. People need to be put right and for the ones who remain there needs to be a level playing field.


Stallowners need to support each other. There is no such thing as new stallholders, old stallholders, Murdoch supporters or any other camp. There is a collective body of hard working people who need a fair go and equal opportunity. Stallholders have always traded off each other and that ecology needs to be bought back into balance.

The photos above are more of the missing shops at the markets.


Is this the future of Freo Markets?


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Adele Carles fights for fremantle markets

Last Sunday Adele Carles impressed everyone at the Fremantle Market rally. Unlike many politicians, there was no double talk or empty promises or excuses. She went straight to the point and made her intentions clear. It’s time to act and it’s time to right a wrong.

Adele has been thorough in her research and has put in a massive amount of time and energy. True to her word, she was off and running Monday morning. Stallholders and the community need to step up now and back her.

She has spoken with a lot of stallholders and has most of the detail but some people have been hesitant to speak and I fear that they may not realize that someone is there to help them. There are a few people who have language difficulties or fear authority. I ask all stallholders to unite and make sure that no one is forgotten. Take people by the hand if they feel intimidated. Everyone needs to know that they are safe and they can speak candidly and honestly with her.


She said at the rally that she needs everyone to contact her within the next two weeks.
Please call her office on 336 7000 or email adele.carles@mp.wa.gov.au or just write her a letter.

Mayor Pettit did not show at the rally and since the eviction and dismantling of the stallholders association we have heard nothing from him other than: let’s move on and his suggestion that all the fuss was a personality conflict. Sad to say, it looks like the new mayor is just another Tagliaferri; a missing mayor.

There is no doubt that the council is responsible for this destructive lease, and so far, every indication is that they would rather have the markets collapse than admit fault or show leadership. 25% of the stallholders have already left; more are trying to sell out or are planning on leaving within the next few months. Even the building itself is in a state of neglect. The council is willing to throw 5Million bucks at it, but who is keeping watch? Why has council allowed the repair and maintenance to go unchecked? Are the ratepayers of Fremantle expected to finance the Murdoch Empire? I thought the markets were a Fremantle asset.


Is Fremantle council just lazy, incompetent or indifferent? Those lawyers knew exactly what they were doing when they drew up that lease – they were blowing off the stallholders, totally excluding them and the people of Freo.

It is on record that the Murdoch’s threatened litigation and stated that they would run the markets into the ground if they didn’t get a lease renewal. Obviously, council caved in due to bullying and the stallholders have become the sacrificial lambs.

Council lawyers knew there was no legal threat. But surely the point was that if they were making these threats with only a few years to go on the lease then why did council think that signing them up for another 20 years would be a solution? It would be the very reason to NOT sign them up.

Do the people of Fremantle know that the custodians of their properties are making decision based purely on intimidation?



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The glare of the obvious is blinding

Air conditioning is and has been of great concern in Freo markets. The argument continues and temperatures continue to rise. Jamie Murdoch says it is a matter of priority. Stallholders and customers often mention feeling ill but at least the customers can avoid the markets and they do. The 43C heat over the Christmas period robbed the stallholders of the expected high trade and drove the final nail into the coffin for a number of people who were just hanging in, waiting for Christmas to pull them over the line. The Murdoch visionaries of the future had this 21st century solution.

Another example of the slick promo speak. Ann Myer referred to the relaxed sitting areas as a customer request with positive feedback. I would argue that plastic tables and chairs with overflowing garbage bins are nothing more than strategically placed fillers hiding empty spaces which used to be stalls.

Another relaxed sitting area around another garbage bin doesn't camouflage the locked door which used to be the ever popular bonsai shop. New tenants are lining up to take possession? NOT.

These shops cost the previous tenants a bomb. With the new development they were offered temporary relocation in inferior positions inside the main market. Robbed of the initial investment and unable to trade effectively they chose to walk away. Rumour has it that Ann Myers daughter is getting ready to take possession of one of them. At what price, mmmmm? Boy that is one lucky girl. Dancing on graves must be some special magic.

What is it that the Murdoch's and the council can't see? How long are we all going to stare at the elephant in the room? How do these pictures exemplify the original business plan? I haven't even posted all the pictures of empty stalls or the ones up for sale or the others hidden by expanding stock to hide vacancies. When will the promises and the reality meet?

Unbelievably, in last weeks Fremantle Gazette, Jamie was quoted:
With the exception of an area in the yard which is being remodelled, there is only one vacancy and this is consistent with our ongoing occupancy rate. One?


Check out the highly promoted 'celebrity cooking school'. Talk about delusions of grandeur.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bAO3LcfUTRc&feature=related



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Stallholders plea to Fremantle Council (again)

Colin Wright speaking at the rally in Jan 2010.

2 years ago, many stallholders attended the Special Meeting of the Fremantle Council to hear the decision on the Market Lease. It would affect many of our lives and we were all interested in the outcome. Stallholders were divided on who should run the markets, as was the council, and this was reflected in the 7-6 vote to return the lease to the Murdoch family.

During this period many promises, guarantees and commitments were made but one outstanding quote by Jamie Murdoch sums up the duplicity of what has been allowed to happen since that evening.

In response to this question from Cr. Bill Massie

“So the current stallholders are guaranteed security?"

Jamie answered: quote
“We don't want to lose any stallholders, we want all the stallholders we have to come along. We have 200 stallholders who are all fantastic people, who we want to continue. We don't want to preclude any stallholders from anything. We want to give them the opportunity to come along for the next 10-20 years.”

He also went on to tell councillors, on many occasions throughout his presentation, that the Fremantle Markets would remain:
Firstly: a secure low cost trading environment and that they would put policies in place to do this.

And Secondly: as part of their Fremantle Markets Business Plan they would offer stallholders security of tenure with new 5 year agreements and 5 year options .

So as you can imagine, to the councillors listening to his presentation, the stallholders were going to be looked after, and I believe that that was important to most of them.

So what changed once the lease was signed?

What’s happened inside these walls and at Council that continually keeps the Markets dispute in the papers and causes a stallholder like Ed Seah to organize this rally.

Simple…the guarantees weren’t honoured and now about 40 of those stallholders… “the ones who Jamie said were all fantastic people” were, either priced out, relocated, downsized, or simply no longer wanted at the markets i.e. evicted.

The problem then for council was that they had also had made guarantees, in a public meeting, to all the stallholders and six of the councillors, that our businesses would be safe, under the new lease…Mark Scott even asked the question twice … he wanted to be sure. The ex-mayor also endorsed this point of view…

So what ever happened to those guarantees …We’ve asked Council, many times, but they have never answered those questions. We’re asking again today, for Ed and all the others who have lost their businesses:

…why have you failed to honour your guarantees?

Let’s also look at another of the Murdoch commitments,that of a:

“Low Cost Trading Environment”. This was a crucial component for stallholders and also a cornerstone of their presentation to Council. Markets need low rents in order to remain competitive. What has been allowed to happen, with the exorbitant rent hikes, now sees our rents higher than most in the Freo CBD and up with the most expensive market rents in the country. These unsustainable increases coincided with the Global Financial crisis, a weakening retail environment and greater insecurity surrounding small business. The timing couldn’t have been worse.

With these rent hikes we’ve lost our competitive advantage, prices have to go up or you go broke; and that’s what is happening. A market by definition must offer value for money, otherwise it becomes another shopping centre minus the trimmings; no air conditioning, no free parking and no terrazzo floors. How can stallholders possibly maintain market prices on their goods when they are being slugged like this? The high rents and overheads are driving established businesses out, while at the same time, new stallholders are apparently given the incentive of subsidized rents - to fill the empty stalls which are starting to appear.

Empty stalls are a new phenomena - it’s unheard of over the last 30 years.

Remember in all this, Council only passed on a modest 12% rent increase with the new lease to the Murdoch’s. Stallholders on the other hand have been slugged between 50% –100% and in some case considerably higher. They say it’s “Fair Market Rent” and the independent valuation proves it. We say it’s no longer the low cost environment you promised and the exodus of stallholders shows this.

If 40 businesses disappeared from along South Terrace, Market or High Street, Council and the Chamber of Commerce would swing into action as a matter of urgency. When it happens inside these walls everybody, including the new mayor, duck for cover. They hope it will eventually go away but it won’t, not before, before more lives are shattered through the decisions and unwillingness to act by the council. These are small family businesses and in Ed’s case, he supports three children as a single parent and a sick and aging father who started this souvenir business 30 years ago.

It’s ironic that the Murdoch’s, who threatened to run the markets into the ground if they didn’t win the lease cited their family’s long and successful connection with the market as a major reason why they should retain it.

It’s typical then of this management, that Ed and the other long term family businesses, which have been forced out, could not argue their long term connection with the markets entitled them to have their lease renewed as well. (photo of Eds dad who also ran the stall for many years)
What’s also maddening is that these very stallholders, who have lost their livelihoods, are now publicly criticized by Jamie Murdoch for generating bad press and ruining the trade for those who remain. Nothing could be further from the truth! However, we should not be manipulated into silence through guilt, when the real reason for poor trading and loss of regular customers can be levelled at management decisions, rather than ex stallholders telling their story to the papers.

On a Wednesday night, 12 months ago, 100 stallholders filled the Council Chamber and told their stories of how they were being affected. Emails flooded the CEO’s in box, the message was clear and unequivocal: Our businesses are under threat, we cannot sustain the rents, people will leave - what are you going to do? Fremantle Markets is an icon - the time to act is now.

One possible conclusion to draw from this is that the Fremantle City Council condones the action of the Markets management and their treatment of stallholders.

Brad Petitt told the Herald that “Council is bound by the head lease and are not responsible for the day to day running of the Markets.” That’s not completely true because through the “Fremantle Markets Operating Strategy”, a key component of the head lease: Council has the flexibility to alter the lease, hold management accountable and to govern the direction the market takes. Changes can be made through the Markets Working Group but they haven’t chosen to take this course of action.

Maybe they are comfortable with this mayhem?"

I don’t believe they are; and for the councilors, both those who supported or opposed the lease, there is a growing sense of injustice and wrong in the way this is being handled. The councillors, who voted for this lucrative lease, and the officers who recommended it, should acknowledge that what was promoted and sold to them by the Murdoch’s, to support the Markets remaining in their hands, is not what has been delivered.

The awarding of the Fremantle Markets lease, without an open tender process, was always going to be clouded in controversy and what has happened since reinforces that view:

1. “Why hasn’t the Council enforced the Business Plan”?

2. Were misrepresentations made to council which contravenes the Trade Practices Act?

3. Would the council seriously investigate this for fear of uncovering incompetence within their own walls?

In the meantime, the Ed’s and other small business operators who believed the Council were looking after their interests now find themselves without their business - their livelihoods - their goodwill - their income or their superannuation.

To Brad Petitt, the Fremantle Council and the new councillors: This fiasco continues to degenerate; it’s an ongoing public disgrace. Six more stallholders have left this month; more are lining up to go.

Don’t keep sweeping it under the table, act to defend what is right and just here…show leadership on this issue.

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The Human face behind the stories

The photos below are just a small snapshot of the human faces behind the current carnage. The Murdoch's have referred to ex-stallholders as 'yesterdays people'. Are these today's people and who are tomorrows people?


Julia as pleasant as ever pretending it's business as usual. 2 hours after I took this photo she was packed up and on her way out. Within weeks of buying her shop she was advised of the rent increases. In just over a year she walks away with nothing but heartache and lose of initial investment.
Ed closing down the previously owned family business. His mum and dad are at a loss to understand. No reason, no explanation just 'go'.
An Australiana shop. Perfect for a tourism icon, but not so, according to the Murdoch's. Gone by the end of the day.

Sweet enough to pose for a photo. The smile hides the sadness of packing up before the sun sets.
Pretty box's don't hide the fact that the shop is no longer occupied. Perhaps they contain her Christmas surprise - a vacation.





PAST MEMBERS & FRIENDS

It is also appropriate to recognize the contribution made by the following long term stallholders to the markets who have left the markets, for one reason or another, since the lease negotiations commenced just over 2 years ago. Some have been evicted, others decided to leave because of the high rents and outgoings, others who weren’t offered the 5 years tenure promised and yes some, who have sold their business but, in most instances, for far less than it was previously worth.


Richard Murphy - Aromatica Soaps, Chris Jones - Mosaics, Alison Viera - Freo Hats, Steve Beard - Hammocks, Cuong - Leather Bags, Mary Cole - Antique Corner, Bob Williams - Fish Corner, Kylie Larsen - Artist, Penny Bannister - Antique Books, Nathan Baws - Naturopath, Bill Hopkins - Toys, Sue Smith - Asian Handicrafts, Mick Marlin - Art Prints/Framing, Sue - Bushtucker Foods, Peter & Lam - Farmers Lane Food, Herman Visser - Sunglasses, Wen - Fruit & Veg, Carol & Ralph - Paramor Crystals, Hulusi Atahan - Wildflowers in Resin, Mick - Candles, Anne Hughes - Rainbow Magic, Lorraine Ryan - Reiki, Annie - Artist/Silk Scarves, Wayne Bynder - Bootja Aboriginal, Ant & Julie - Photographer/Prints, Nellie - Ceramic Artist, Pat Mason - Woodturner,Patrick & Lynne - Wireworks, Lizzie - Cake of Soap, Colin and Marilyn Wright - Bonsai, Jerry Drenthe - Mr. Organic, Billy Ho - Fruit & Veg, Fan - Fruit & Veg, Scotty’s - Fruit & Veg, Gloria Stewart - High as a Kite, Richard Dixon - CrocodileMagnets, Gloria - Aladdins Kebab, Kerry & Lyn - The Bali Shop, Looch - Tricycle Clothing, Lee - Fruit & Veg, Maureen - The Box Shop, Mei Mei - Chinese Emporium, Subhi & Annupo - Floonies, Ken & Julia - Ken’s Art,
And ...



sonyagreen.blogspot.com

Fremantle Market rally pictures

Hundreds of Fremantle locals came to the Jan 31st rally to protest and show support for the Fremantle Markets. This is only a small glimpse but a poignant one, as once again, the same councillors who fought in the beginning are the same ones who showed up to let us know they are still listening. Donna Haney, John Dowson, Georgie Adeane, Bill Massie and the always present Les Lauder's energy.
Adele Carles; a politician who gets things done with intelligence, honesty and heart. (Watch this space for greater things to come)
Colin Wright's speech had me in tears and the people cheering and ringing bells.
Georgie Adeane: A councillor who still remembers why she joined council. When the soul of the city is respected and valued by it's leaders - it shows.
Ed's shop - closing down. Ed organised the rally and the sadness of this eviction was heartfelt throughout the port city.
sonyagreen.blogspot.com

Community rally for Fremantle Markets 31/1/10

A public rally has been organised for Sunday 31st of Jan 2010 for Fremantle Market supporters to come along and hear what's really going on in the market and what Fremantle Council is doing about it. It starts at 4pm in the Henderson Street mall (Near the Fremantle Markets)

No more double talk, no more rumour or innuendo - just the facts. Listen to the people tell their true stories. This is a Fremantle issue; ratepayers, customers, families and local businesses are all being effected. Fremantle Market is not a joint venture between the Murdoch bothers and the council it is the peoples market.

When big business and bureaucracy destroy families, hard working battlers, and suck the soul out of a community - it's time to step up.

The greatest atrocities throughout history have occurred only because they were executed in small increments. A few here and a few there and no one pays much attention. By the time we realise what has happened: fear has become the weapon. Apathy and silence is not the solution.

These people are your neighbours, customers, friends or family members - these people could be you one day.

Say no to greedy landlords. Say no to political agendas. Say no to artificially inflated prices. And say Yes to Aussie battlers having a go.

http://sonyagreen.blogspot.com

Brad Pettitt - Remember Freo Markets?

This week I sat with yet another group of people who have been financially and emotionally traumatised by FMPL. The majority were long term successful operators and I found it particularly poignant that some spoke of knowing Jamie Murdoch as a child, working for his dad who had the lease at the time. It’s hard to imagine that that small boy would become the man who would so easily and clinically wipe them out.

The sense of betrayal was probably greater than the confusion and anger that they felt. Some of these people had not only backed the Murdoch bid on the lease renewal but they also actively wrote letters of recommendation and rallied on their behalf.

Even as the rents and outgoings skyrocketed and they witnessed the conflict, evictions and the loss of friends and colleagues they still believed it was all probably a part of a higher plan. They trusted the Murdoch’s and offered support and loyalty.

When it comes to retail it’s really just a matter of convenience, location, cost and value for money. Retailers come and go and that’s a fact of life. Buying an apple at the supermarket and comparing it to buying an apple from Scottie at the Freo markets is hardly an earth shattering event – so what’s all the fuss about?

It's about community and it’s about belonging. Sure, you shop at the markets and yes it is a commercial venue and of course it must be financially viable and competitive. Shopping centres are light, spacious, organized, structured and well facilitated. You will pay more for products but the advantage is fast and efficient service and it’s perfect for quick in and out shopping.

Market shopping is almost opposite that style. Market shopping is an outing, relaxed browse or exhibition. Going to the markets is not a task – it is somewhere to go or something to do. People don’t necessarily go with a set plan or list of what to buy. They want to be surprised; to find something unusual or a bargain or a treat.

People can rush into a supermarket in their lunch hour but in the markets they want to wander around, talk with shopkeepers, catch up on the news on the street, people watch, try products, smell exotic fragrance and aromas, sample foods, listen to a cacophony of sound, be teased and entertained, to buy without pressure or slick sales spiels, grab an ice cream or a beer and watch the busker and the passing parade of interesting looking characters.

In short, they want to be a part of a community, to feel comfortable and to feel like they fit in as individuals not as something attached to a credit card. For tourists or out of towner's it is an exciting place. Veteran stallholders might not speak all languages but they do speak the language of “welcome stranger – how can I assist you”.

Like cab drivers and barmaids around the world these are the people who know where to go, how to get there, what is safe. These people are the ones you trust, people who still take the time to ‘shoot the breeze’ with the customers. Locally though, it is so much more than that.

I heard about a lady the other week and I think she summed it up nicely. She just said “What has happened to the markets - it feels like it has lost its soul.” She went on to say that she has come to the markets every Friday after work (for more than 10 years) to buy her veg from Scottie, grab a pancake and then wander over to the antique shop to chat with the owner who she befriended many years ago.

And this is the Magic that the Murdoch’s don’t understand and will never replicate again. There are thousands of locals who came because Penny Banister knew their name, Herman teased them as they walked by, Phil talked astrology, Col knew his horticulture and many said it was the best stall there, Richard stocked their enviro friendly products and knew what he was talking about, Marilyn had warmth and kind words, people like Mary Cole were just loved and admired, people like Milton, who could have retired years ago, is held up as an example and all the locals know and respect him.

We expect to see Ed, Gerry, Gloria, Sue, Angelo, Liz, Richard D, Bob the others who prefer not to be mentioned, but you won’t see them and you won’t hear laughter coming from the magnet shop, or de-stress in the bonsai shop, joke or haggle with the veggie guys; in fact you won’t hear much laughter at all.

There are so many more; many go back twenty or thirty years. They have seen each other go through tough times and celebrated marriages and births and grieved together more than a few times. They have watched children become adults and now some of those children have taken over the family business. For many people this has become the second family or the community’s family, something which evolved over many years and it is this that held the secret of the markets former success.

An accountants’ mind might argue that this is business and that the markets are not there for the psychology or wellbeing of the community. It’s about profit. And this is the fundamental flaw in their thinking - because loyal, repeat custom is profit. This is your free multi million dollar advertising, marketing and customer base. This is why your apples are better than any other apples. You can bank on that!

That guy from Singapore who dropped into Ed’s shop to buy a cheap postcard left with a few good tips of where to eat, catch a bus or find good accom. Mostly what he left with was a reason to tell his friends and his family about the friendly helpful people at Freo markets. He might be the guy who will post his holiday pics on his facebook or blog. He might be the guy who comes back a week later with a bunch of new friends he met at the backpackers. He might be the new unofficial Singaporean representative for a holiday in Fremantle. He might have only bought a $2 card on the day, but his word of mouth might be bringing in exponential dollars for years to come.

What really infuriates me is that Fremantle council knows this. Fremantle markets have been a magnet for tourist, an incubator for new business and innovative ideas, a community meeting place, the local town crier, and financially in their own words ‘the jewel in the crown – the icon’. The money in their parking metres, the prosperity throughout the CBD, the week end boom-time is their commercial bread and butter. When the markets go the dominos fall and businesses (rate paying businesses) will be effected and leave.

So don’t tell me that the little second hand bookshop is insignificant!

And stop telling me about cheap rent. The mere pittance of your so called ‘low cost environment’ translates into millions of dollars for you and the Murdoch’s. Rent was never, ever, a gift or charity nor was it cheap if you break it down into how limited the facilities and spaces are. It was to some extent just smart business - with you and the Murdoch’s cashing up in dollars by saving them a few cents. You gave them crumbs but you ate the loaf and asked for more.

If you want to talk about dollars and cents try some real number crunching. Take the markets out of Freo and work out an advertising, marketing and promotional campaign to bring people and business back to Freo.

While you are now budgeting for the mammoth restoration work of the bricks and mortar we are still wondering why the ratepayers are forking out the millions to repair what should have been maintained and repaired throughout the last lease. Why has council not been doing thorough annual checks on the building? You are the custodians aren’t you? Why are the Murdoch’s not being bought into question about the neglect of the building or being accountable financially?

My question to Fremantle council is why they are investing this kind of money in the building if the business within the building is in such a vulnerable state? Cynically, I could assume that council will be paid rent by the Murdoch’s until the lease expires no matter what happens. But, that will be cold comfort if you lose business and reputation throughout the entire CBD. It’s time that both parties stopped thinking in terms of real estate; this is not just about rent and both of you had better work that out fast.

The council screwed up badly and they know it. The X mayor couldn’t cope and ran away and hid. The new mayor said it’s a matter of mediation and that he would be having talks…no one has heard anything more than his airy comment about moving on. We might as well move on, but let’s move on from the point that we all know that mistakes were made, litigation and intimidation played its part, personality conflict hindered communication, time and money and effort is still daunting but all of that is getting bigger and bigger and it is not going away.

You can blame the recession and you can blame the stallholders association and you can blame bad press, but truth is truth, and no one is fooled. It’s costly, stressful and acrimonious now, but it will be more so, if everyone refuses to get real.

No matter how much you didn’t want to hear what the stallholder association was saying they did at least keep it contained. If you think that removing them put it all to bed then you are delusional. You don’t have a rational voice speaking on behalf of the collective stall holders or the ratepayers. What you have now is countless angry voices rising up to meet you.

Facts:
At least thirty businesses have been forced out of the market – legally robbed by your error. More are leaving this week and more in months to come.
New casual tenants are either refusing to sign on or are being offered subsidized rents.
Vacancy rates this Christmas were the highest it has ever been.
People who have re-signed have been backed into a corner and many are just trying to hang in long enough to be able to sell out or get out debt free or break even.
Customer traffic is declining rapidly
Stalls are currently empty
Morale and atmosphere is depressing
The place looks shabby
People are getting sick from the lack of air cond.
Advertising is minimal or ineffective
Christmas trade was so bad some paid rent out of pocket
Wednesdays ‘trial’ was embarrassing and grossly overstated and misleading
Most of the promises in the original proposal have been broken
The operating strategy is a joke
The working group is ….can’t even describe that
Tagliaferri and council promises have been broken
Stallholders are too fearful to speak up
Members of the association have been victimised and evicted
Stallholders have been warned not to speak to the press of even each other about their grievances.
People have been told they can no longer sell established products or deal with established suppliers.
Stall holders have been ‘advised’ to sack their own employees
Part time jobs have been lost
New people are being bought in with competing products and favourable advantages creating conflict and resentment between them and established businesses.
People have been given notice without reason and by a note being left on their counter

The stallholders are obviously bitter and angry and devastated but it’s now the customers who are only footsteps from your door. You won’t hear them coming but more importantly, you won’t even notice as they walk away.

Of course I could be wrong and this might just be my point of view and maybe the stallholders and customers might just be of the same mind. Perhaps Jamie Murdoch is the only one who really understands. Apparently he thinks so as he sent out this masterpiece last week in a newsletter:

2009 was a difficult year for retail… We’ve had feedback…For example…our research…Our statistics….When speaking to our customers we have learned …
Well, it’s been tough but we fared pretty well by comparison.

But this:

“2009 was a difficult year in terms of relationships with some stallholders and, sadly, some Councillors. Things were not made easier by some very one-eyed reporting by the Fremantle Herald. But the biggest disappointment of 2009 was seeing outgoing stallholders, who have always claimed to have the interest of the Markets at heart, handling their departures in a way that was clearly designed to damage Fremantle Markets, with no regard to the harm their actions might do to the business of loyal stallholders.”

I wonder if Freo Council is living in the same alternate Universe. Mayor Pettitt, is that how you see it? Troublemakers and paparazzi?

Go to latest Sonya Green post:
http://sonyagreen.blogspot.com

Fremantle Council and Fremantle Markets - It's on again

Why are we asking the same questions today that have been asked over and over for the past year or two? Why are we still showing up with the dead bodies and still wondering why this is happening and who is responsible and who is going to do something about it?

It seems to me that we are all just playing a role in a melodrama and ooing and ahhing and aint that a shaming throughout. Sad stories about ‘little Aussie battlers being done over by the greedy landlords’. Ironic really, as we approach Australia day next week end.

Ironic also, that Ed sells Australiana products and souvenirs. The little flags that people wave to celebrate the Australian way. What are those little Aussie catch cries again? She’ll be right mate. A fair go for all. Mates help mates. Equal opportunities…

Except this Australia day Ed is another of the “Tourist icon’s” latest casualty.

The Murdoch’s might have reasons for this culling but it seems pretty clear that many of these businesses are being stolen due to their location and should be bought out by the Murdoch’s at fair value.

The very people who have made the Murdoch’s, the council and the markets both successful and prosperous are the very people who are now walking away or being forced out and left financally and emotionally devastated.

This of course is only a matter of fair play, ethics and community good-will but it would be naïve of me or anyone else here to pretend that those qualities matter in this day and age or in this town or indeed in business. The bottom line is the bottom line. We just like to appear to uphold these ideals.

So let’s not even pretend today that we are here save another victim. Let’s not pretend that we don’t know that more are only weeks or months away from leaving. Let’s pretend that the stallholders association did not predict all of this more than a year ago. And let us pretend that we all believe that the original business plan set out by the Murdoch’s was examined or analysed or that measures were put in place to make sure that the Murdoch’s would comply with those promises or that there would be accountability or consequences or even a course of action by council. Let’s pretend that the council, the custodians of the peoples market, have some control or authority.

Or instead of pretending let’s just ask questions of the council:

If 30-40 small businesses were forced off High St would council have a workable damage control? Or is there some discrimination about a small business operating within a market environment that would make that somehow different?

If rents and outgoings doubled along the café strip would council be a little more concerned or pro-active?

What exactly is an operating strategy? Can anybody approach council with one of these “Appear to be seen… documents” and then be left to do as they please? Does council actually exercise any control or even follow up on these things?

Is council’s lack of action and lack of control really just a subtle form of condoning such disregard for these documents and contracts?

Why did the head lease not include any rights, security, protection or indeed acknowledgement of the sub leases?

Is the Fremantle Market a joint venture between council and the Murdoch’s or do the ratepayers and small businesses actually have a say?

It seems to me that the stallholders are pulling the rents through the door and the ratepayers are about to fork out nearly 5 million dollars worth of restoration work; not to mention the discrepancy of a 12% council increase in rents as opposed to the 80% Murdoch increase. Has anyone there even pondered the near 60% dupe to the ratepayer? Or the ten years council will need to break even while many millions will go straight into the Murdoch pocket - if the market still exists in ten years

Is anyone still holding true the 'directed and confidential' evaluation even though new casual traders are being offered subsidized rents or the fact that tenants are NOT being replaced at all?

And last but not least, can council or management please define what you actually think a market is?

Because the big question will be, “What are you going to do with the newly restored empty asset that used to be a market?”

Sonya Green
http://sonyagreen.blogspot.com

Fremantle markets. Golden goose is a swan song

It's a new year. Last year there was hope and an opportunity to turn things around but the time has come to accept what is and walk away. Too many talking and too few listening. I think it's important to speak up and it's important to fight against injustice and or stupidity. It's important to throw all you have at it. But there comes a day when you must accept that there are higher pictures in place and quite often good things come from bad.

Future consequences are usually preditcable from past experience if one maintains awareness. Empathy is an excellent teacher but for some, failure, loss or grief needs to be experienced before they get the lesson.

When people are in the right place it feels right. When stress, fear, worry and anger take over your life it's time to move on. There are infinite ways to make money or replace money. There are infinite ways of enjoying your life. New pathways rarely appear if you won't turn the corner.

The Murdoch's were given the goose that laid the golden eggs. They jumped on its belly to see if it would lay more. I don't get it, you don't understand it, we all tried to explain that if they fed, nurtured and protected it they would have eggs for ever. We warned them that they would kill it. We sceamed when they jumped. But, that's just the way some people are...

For reasons very different to Brad Pettitts - It's time we all moved on.

http://sonyagreen.blogspot.com/

Fremantle markets - the year that was

Looking back on the last year I can’t help but note how predictable it was back then and how nothing much has been done to prevent any of it.

The market now operates as two separate entities; a food market and a merchandise market - both have different operating hours. Around 30 businesses have left the markets, stall vacancy is at an all time record, new merchants are being given discounted (subsidized) rents just to pull them in, further rent increases have occurred, ex stallholders are operating outside the market, Thursday trade was reintroduced and left many paying rent out of pocket, priority air conditioning has not been installed and temps reach in excess of 40 degress, customers have greatly diminished, Christmas profits were down by half, stalls have been relocated and downsized, anger and hatred have halted all communication between stallholders and management, the markets look tacky and the food area is extraordinarily ordinary, Key members of the stallholder association have been evicted or forced to leave, some have sold out well below value and many more have walked away losing their investment and livelihood, month-to-month tenancies have been offered instead of secure long term leases, council and the Murdoch’s have been questioned and exposed by the media and both have lost reputation within the community, the new Wednesday market flopped and finished within weeks of opening, almost everything in the Murdoch proposal or business plan has either not happened at all or has been the very opposite of what they promised.

It's new years eve today and we can now start the count down… In the end, it might well be the Murdoch’s walking in the same shoes; no stallholders, no customers, no profits. Just a nice long secure lease and a big fat rent to pay.

But of course they will blame those “trouble making stallholders”
What was it again? Oh, that’s right – a personality conflict!


http://sonyagreen.blogspot.com/

Trust me - would I lie to you?

I have just gone through a letter to the stallholders, written in 2005 by the Murdoch's, asking for help in securing their new lease with the council. I held it up in front of a mirror just to see if it read in reverse!
No wonder so many people feel betrayed. Just for fun, go through it with a red pen and circle the BS.

5th Dec 2005

Dear Stallholder,

FUTURE of FREMANTLE MARKETS

As many of you will be aware, we have put to the City of Fremantle a proposal whereby we fund a number of improvements to the Fremantle Market building (owned by the City of Fremantle) including:

Cooling the building (an urgent issue)
A new electricity system (an urgent issue) and
New signage on the exterior of the building.

We also have a number of other ideas to revitalise the Fremantle Markets business and to keep it West Australia’s premier tourist attraction which we would be keen to explore and implement.

It is not financially viable for us to fund the above improvements (and any other future necessary improvements) under the current head lease which has less than 5 years to run. Accordingly we have asked the City of Fremantle to enter into a new long term lease with us we believe will benefit the Fremantle Markets as a whole and Fremantle in general.

We consider the Fremantle Market business important to us, to stallholders and to Fremantle. Like many of you, we have spent 30 years working to make the business a success and would like to continue.

We believe our business model in trying to keep the Fremantle Markets a relatively low cost environment for small operators like you is the key to long term viability of the business. Integral to this business model is long term tenure (for all of us)

In short, the positives for the business plan being adopted by the City of Fremantle are:

Capital improvements being carried out as soon as possible;
Continuation under same operators who have an understanding of what makes the business a success and what is needed to continue its viability long term;
New management (John and Jamie Murdoch) but in the same family;
Certainty and continuity of stallholders;
Possibility of longer tenure (written into licence agreement) for stallholders if Murdoch company has longer tenure.

Negatives to be considered should the City of Fremantle not approve this Business Plan include:

No improvements will be made to the building in relation to cooling and new electricity supply.
License fees will be higher. Current operators (Murdoch Company) will be forced to view the business as a 5 year cash flow and must assume that at the end of the lease that another operator may be appointed by the City of Fremantle. We cannot guarantee that the market will not change completely with a new operator clearing out all stalls and only replacing them with stallholders willing to pay the highest price.
Your current goodwill you have built up over a number of years or goodwill you have purchased from a previous stall owner will diminish in value as each month goes by and, at the end of 5 years, could be worth nil given the uncertainty of what the markets will be and who will operate them and how they will operate them.
Your ability to sell your stall in the next 5 years will also diminish (along with its value) as who would buy a stall which could for all intents and purposes disappear in less than 5 years give Murdoch company cannot guarantee the Market will be here or who will run it and how in 5 years time.

If you believe the Business Plan should be adopted by the City of Fremantle, we strongly urge you as individuals or as a group to let the City of Fremantle know as soon as possible your support by writing or emailing (and marked as “Fremantle Markets Business Plan Submission”) and addressed to: …

We urge you to consider this letter carefully as the future of the Fremantle Markets as we know it today could be a thing of the past.

(Signed John and Jamie Murdoch)

http://sonyagreen.blogspot.com/

Fremantle Market money song

One of Freo's popular buskers has been taking note of the word on the street and has composed this little song.


Money Market

There once was a market
Where trading was fair
The people came from miles
To laugh and to share
The traders all smiled
And sang as they worked
And the people all knew
This was the salt of the earth.

The market was held
In an old western town
A place on the edge
That the badlands surround
Out of the wilderness
Came a renegade band
That hid behind the sheriff
And the law of the land.

Then plundered the market
And took all they could
While the lawman smiled and winked
Which made them look good
Most of the people knew this was wrong
But they turned a blind eye
‘cause the law was too strong.

Some of the townsfolk tried to resist
They didn’t have the strength
To fight men such as this
The resisters was tarred n feathered
And thrown to the ground
Then to make an example
They were dragged out of town.

Much law is unjust, the law is an ass
Will the people rise up or just lay in the grass
‘tis not the beginning
Nor is it the end
To end an injustice you need Honest men.

Murdochs evict spokesman and force out long term tenants

New councillor Andrew Sullivan’s comments in last weeks Herald should make the new mayor sit up and pay attention. Andrew is impressive on two counts:
His refusal to be censored (gagged) and the balls to speak his truth.
He seems to grasp the importance of looking at new ideas or better options to help the disenfranchised stallholders. He simply states that the stallholders don’t need to be told to get on with it when they are obviously working through grief and suffering.

To me, the mark of a great leader is the rare combination of intelligence AND heart. This is a guy to watch.

Mayor Brad Pettitt’s rather beige comment about the eviction of Colin Wright was not much more than a political exhalation. “Colin and the Murdoch’s are clearly not able to work together any more. It’s best for everyone if they go their separate ways. I can’t see any way forward.” So what’s that – a personality conflict?

Has Brad completely missed the point? Colin Wright was elected by the stallholders to represent and speak on their behalf. Elected and supported because he had the ethics, intelligence, tenacity and most of all the courage to risk his own successful business to protect the vulnerable. Through Colin Wright the council was alerted to very major problems more than a year ago and his predictions and warnings have all now come to this final conclusion.

Removing Colin Wright is not the end of the plight of the stallholders or the predictable conflict to come. The markets are very close to collapsing and when Colin Wright is out of the picture the power of play will be between the Murdoch’s and a council who has so far been happy to deflect their responsibility in the whole sorry saga.

With council planning to spend in excess of 4 million dollars on the markets my suggestion would be to work out first of all if there will be a market by the time the debt is repaid. At a very rough estimate the Murdoch’s will be making squillions but the council will be lucky to break even after ten years.

It would do council and the Murdoch’s well to firstly define what a market is.

Exorbitant rents, lack of savvy traders, loss of customers, inappropriate stall positioning and unviable businesses are what this year turned up – where to now?

http://sonyagreen.blogspot.com/

John and Jamie Murdoch - spiteful revenge

The Fremantle Markets farce
By Beatrice Thomas, Local Government Reporter

Copy of West Australian Newspaper article Nov 25th 09


The deteriorating state of affairs at the Fremantle Markets is nothing short of farcical.

What started as a dispute over the awarding of a new lease to the Murdoch family, and later rent increases of up to 300 per cent, has now escalated into a vicious stoush where long-time, reputable stallholders are leaving or having leases terminated with little warning and it seems with even less prospect of any recourse.

When a new 18-year head lease was awarded to John and Jamie Murdoch, whose father operated the 112-year-old markets for more than 30 years, the City of Fremantle, which owns the building, said it would guarantee a security of tenure for permanent stallholders.

"From the very start of the new lease process the Stallholders Association wanted their security of tenure (to) be protected," the City's corporate services director Glen Dougall said in November last year.

"The City ensured this by allowing stallholders access to sub-lease or licence agreements of at least five years unless otherwise negotiated by the stallholder."

Not only was this supposed to protect the long-term stallholders who rely on business from the three-day operation for their livelihoods but the addition of the Retail Tenancies Act in the new agreement was supposed to ensure "fair commercial principles" were enforced.

What has emerged over the past year suggests anything but that has transpired with monthly leases, reduced space and little communication all complaints from long-term traders.

And the City's statistics that only 70 per cent of stallholders have signed new lease agreements is proof of the unrest.

The parties are even in dispute over the number of stallholders leaving with the Stallholders Association saying up to 35 traders have left, while Jamie Murdoch says the number is at most 20.

Earlier this year, the Murdochs, trading as Fremantle Markets Pty Ltd, began issuing stallholders with notices outlining rent increases of up to 300 per cent.

At the time they said the head lease with the council demanded "a fair market rent" be established, meaning a big correction because rents had been artificially low.

However, acting on the growing number of complaints from stallholders who said the increases were unjust, the City in April found Fremantle Markets had failed to negotiate with stallholders over rent increases and as a result had breached its lease.

Rejecting legal action, the City opted for "an urgent dispute resolution".

Not only has this failed dismally but the City is now faced with the embarrassing prospect of stallholders setting up a rival market across the road at the South Fremantle Football Club, of all places.

The stallholders can take up the issue with the State Administrative Tribunal and Supreme Court, but as lawyer Rod Hager pointed out they could at most seek damages and at the end of the costly process there are still no guarantees that they get their stall back.

To date the Murdoch brothers have maintained that they have followed the requirements of the head lease and have effectively dismissed most of the criticism as coming from a bunch of disgruntled troublemakers unhappy with having to pay what their stall is worth.

Irrespective of whether this is completely true, the people leaving the markets are more often than not long-time tenants whose quirky, colourful and popular stalls have helped shape the character of the century-old operation.

They may be disposable for the Murdochs, who are more than too happy to point out that they can be replaced, but their loss should be a wake-up call for a council that promised to look after them but has failed to do so.

* My comments.
* Those disgruntled trouble makers would be the ELECTED stallholders association that speaks out ON BEHALF of the others. Needless to say that the spokespeople for the association have been evicted and others who have spoken out have been forced to leave by having shop sizes greatly reduced, rents increased and inappropriate relocations. Most at best, were promised a month to month lease agreement which makes it impossible to trade or sell out. John Murdoch said publicly that some stallholders have chosen to leave!


* The proof of the lack of replacement stalls is now obvious with vacant stalls and rent subsidies being offered to new and casual tenants.