Fremantle council. Didn't we tell you so?

FREMANTLE city council plans to penalise landlords with double rates if their shops are unoccupied for lengthy periods.
Mayor Brad Pettitt took a short break from his holiday to tell the Herald he was tired of landlords setting extortionate, unrealistic rents which crippled traders and led to empty shopfronts.
He plans to have the policy in place by the end of the year.
The Merchant Tea and Coffee Company on South Terrace and Spotlight on Adelaide Street are just two prime shopfronts sitting dormant.
The double-rates policy is already in place for unoccupied properties such as the Woolstores in Cantonment Street and some ground-floor car parks, but not shops.
Dr Pettit’s edict comes in the wake of High Street’s True Blue Gallery and French restaurant Great Mellie closing down just this week and the sudden closure of Le Poisson D’or at Bathers Beach.
Iconic High Street bookshop New Edition—next door to True Blue—is refusing to speak to the Chook about rumours it is for sale too.
Exorbitant rents and falling foot-traffic has seen a mass exodus of businesses from High Street in recent years, including Pure and Natural, Creative Native and Red Canvas.
In September, retail titan Myer announced it was pulling down the shutters on its Freo branch early this year.
“After Myer leaving Fremantle it is clear that the retail sector is at a turning point,” Dr Pettitt says.
“We can’t let it drop much further and we need to get an influx of retail in to replace Myer’s presence.
“We also need more people living and working in the city—currently there are only around 800 people living in the centre—office workers are a bit slice of the retail market.”
Dr Pettitt says it is a “race against the clock” to complete a series of key developments that will revive Fremantle’s moribund retail sector:
• The $220 million Kings Square redevelopment will be a shopping focal point, galvanising the city’s fragmented retail;
• Amendment 49 will allow higher density developments and entice more people to live and work in the city;
• the $10m sale of a council-owned block bordered by Adelaide and Point Streets will transform the 500sqm site into a mix of residential, commercial and short-stay accommodation.
Rumours Target plans to close prompted Dr Pettitt to contact the retail giant’s Fremantle landlord for reassurance.
“I have been told the speculation was false and they are in process of negotiating the renewal of their lease,” the mayor told the Herald.
Target corporate advisor Lauren Andrews also scotched the rumour.
“I can confirm that we have no plans to close the Target store in Fremantle,” she said.

by Stephen Pollock http://heraldonlinejournal.com/2013/01/07/double-rates-for-greedy-landlords/
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Peter Tagliaferri, Jamie and John Murdoch

All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing ....

Remember this: Peter Tagliaferri, Jamie and John Murdoch and Fremantle council. And the little squeeks fittock and pettit.
...and that's all she wrote.


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When you bite the hand that feeds you

J. the brat had a long silver spoon
And was eaten by envy and greed
His baby face and voice so soft
Made it easy for him to deceive

This shallow man without compassion
had money from mummy and pop
it expressed thro him a tyranny
which proved too hard to stop.

No one knew what happened
You couldn’t see the source
Compatible energies blended
By some magnetic force.

The ghosts of convicts on the hill
Seeped through the market floor
Driving out the good folk
Til there were no more.

Many felt the evil air
And wondered what took place
The laughter of a yesteryear
Became a nameless face.

The townsfolk showed their discontent
By staying well away
The place has lost its soul
Is all they had to say.

I will fix this when I can
The old mayor once lamented
Proving what they all had thought -
That he was quite demented.

A rally in the market square
Cried out with cheers and bells
Something’s wrong in city hall
Something really smells

Bureaucracy – a wimpy lot
Hid behind their writs
Cowering in closets
A bunch of feeble twits

Good men fought until they fell
Hearts were torn away
Karma spoke with justice
“I will have my day!”

What’s happened to my cash cow?
J-boy knits a frown
He didn’t even notice
When it all fell down

I demand some loyalty
I demand respect
What was he ever thinking?
What did he expect?

If you bite the hand that feeds you
You lose much more than money
A man can lose himself as well
Isn’t life too funny?


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Fremantle Markets - Ann Meyer and grand visions

Ann Meyer put people offside right from the beginning. Another business was reduced in size to make way for her coffee shop. She moved someone else’s stock from the coolroom and took over that space; the tenant left the market because of that shabby treatment and the newly announced rental increases.

Soon after, Ann introduced herself as the new Business Development Manager. People came out of her introductory meeting seething with anger. She took a hard line and said she was not there to talk about the past or problems or to answer questions. Basically it was “I’m here to speak and you are here to listen”. That was incredibly insensitive considering that the stallholders had just heard of the rental increases and felt betrayed and afraid.

It was generally understood that the Murdoch brothers had employed her to avoid the angry conflict that was festering; she was now the ‘go to guy’ and the Murdoch’s referred everything back to her. She was generally disrespected and disliked and many of the changes she instigated had dire effect on previously well run, successful businesses.

No one has ever mentioned a good idea that Ann Meyer implemented but there are many accounts of extreme chagrin at the detrimental changes she has made. What enflames everyone most of all, is that she over-rides experience, logical argument and even obvious facts by quoting or stressing her research. She is often mimicked with statements like, according to my survey, my data says, our market research, due to customer demand…

Her coffee shop was taken over by her daughter. There has been a lot said about ‘conflict of interest and nepotism’ and a lot of animosity has brewed as the daughter took over prime positioning and other advantages.

What I find most interesting about this shop is that it should reflect the validity of Ann’s qualifications and must be an example of how a shop should be run and how successful a shop can be according to the management’s expertise, positive attitude, qualified research and visions of their 21st century innovation. One would think that this shop would be a prototype for all others to aspire to – wouldn’t one?

Without even going into the fact that the coffee shop is for sale and everyone is really angry that a casual stall is for sale, when permanent stalls can’t sell and are being walked away from, let’s compare advantages and disadvantages.

The first point is that not only is this a casual stall which has only operated a little more than a year but the sale comes with an exclusive right to take over a permanent shop which has never even been occupied by the girl. The previous owner was ousted after paying around $30,000 for only ½ the space. He has recently walked away with nothing. How is it that his shop becomes her asset?

This might make her sale look more secure or more appealing but on closer inspection a potential buyer would find that that space needs to be fitted out and equipped according to regulations. I would estimate they would be looking at another $50,000 to do that.

Currently the girl is in a casual location of 3X3 metres. If you put a table at the front and side that gives you enough space to work in equivalent to a baby’s playpen. The rent on this little space is $100 per day. If the buyer takes on the permanent shop it is probably triple that size so I assume it would be at least double that rent.

The casual 3X3 shop is for sale for $20,000neg. If you take on the permanent shop your outlay would be around $70,000 plus rent around $600 per weekend. My figures are rough of course, but close enough for this estimation I am sure.

According to the girl, her profit is around $1,000 per month or $250 per week. If you round that out at 8 hours a day, trading 3 days at the market, and include another 8 hours to do all the things that need to be done to run the business, you have around 32 hours work. That means you make around $8 per hour!

The minimum basic wage for an employee would be twice that. Who in their right mind would pay $20,000 to do that? This of course, this is only if you take the 3X3 casual. I can’t imagine that anyone would take on a lease with the larger shop based on these figures.

I must also add that the figures did not include outgoings, insurances, car, phone or office expenses and other costs that would be usual in running a business so I do believe that the profit was exaggerated.

So, if this is the baby of Ann Meyers and Jamie Murdoch; with all of that management advantage, market research, the questionnaires, positive/professional attitude, retail experience, expertise and grand visions for everyone – then let the proof be in their puddings.

On another note though, I will add, that a potential buyer contacted Jamie Murdoch and enquired about the 5 year lease and also asked for information about the 3 month trial. The request was ignored. An EOI was sent instead. A second request to see a copy of the lease was also ignored.

Yes, you get to buy the coffee shop but you are only given a 3 month trial – and then… (???)

If this is the outcome for the ‘favoured one’ then what hope does anyone have?

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Starting or buying a business at Freo Markets

According to FMPL:
“The Markets’ philosophy is that a wide range of traders should present goods of quality, value and interest at competitive prices. Fremantle Markets is an entertaining place, whether you are visiting or bargain hunting.

Fremantle Markets is a community amenity and meeting place, and over the past 35 years has become an outstanding cultural, entertainment, restaurant and retail centre, without equal in the State.”

The tricky spin or blatant propaganda is just mind-boggling. Value at competitive prices and bargain hunting? The massive rent hikes drove out almost 30% of the tenants and the rest have had to index the cost into product prices.
Community meeting place and cultural centre? It used to be the community hub of Freo, but now it’s just a few plastic chairs, hiding empty stalls, that they refer to as relaxed sitting areas or now a community meeting place.
Is there a restaurant in there?
Entertainment? They must mean the buskers outside the market wall or the music in the bar which I believe is provided by the bar owner not the market management. Perhaps they think that the food hall in the mall is theirs as well.
Well, it all sounds good and might impress a naïve potential tenant and that’s what it’s all about. A nice little lead in to their Expression of Interest application form.

It doesn’t quite come right out and state that before you get to see the lease agreement the need to supply your first born child as collateral but it comes pretty close.

It is really hard to sell a business in the markets for a number of reasons; high rents and lack of facilities being the most obvious.

A lot has been said about people who have signed onto a 5 year lease because they thought that it offered secure tenure and that would make selling a business more viable or at least more stable for the buyer. Many of those people now feel stuck; locked in for 5 years with no way out. It’s no secret that due to the amount of empty stalls the management is now offering those spaces at no cost to new tenants. The bottom line of course, is that they are only interested in the rent coming into their pockets. The value of an established business is of no concern to them and might in fact hinder their agenda.

Some people have employed a business broker and others have advertised businesses for sale. A number of people have found a buyer and then the sale has fallen through when they have contacted the management to discuss the lease.

I am not even going to mention the lease other than to reiterate what I have said before, “Get legal advice before you sign.”

What many stallholders did not realize is that the potential buyers must sign an expression of interest form before they are offered a lease. Basically, the form is to guarantee the management that the potential buyer has enough assets to cover them if they should fail. I wonder if FMPL would provide the same information to their tenants. What guarantee do the tenants have should FMPL go bust?

What really concerns me most though is that FMPL demands a trail period. So, if you are lucky enough to find a buyer, your buyer pays you for your business, fits out the shop, buys stock and then after 10 weeks they can be told that they are unsuitable!!!!

If you haven’t read through the EOI form have a look at these excerpts:
Tenant Licence Agreements.
The successful applicant will be required to enter into a Licence Agreement with Fremantle Markets Pty Ltd for a period of 10 weeks to see whether it is successful for both parties. Nearing the end of that time both parties can sit down and discuss the option of entering into a long term arrangement.

Or this little beauty which says it all:
Whilst an attempt has been made to ensure that information contained in this document is accurate at the time of publication (April 2010), Fremantle Markets Pty Ltd does not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy of information contained in this document.

What Happens Next?

Applicants will not automatically be offered an interview and it is therefore important that you complete the attached Application Form as fully and accurately as possible. Photographs and other information relating to your proposed merchandise will assist in reviewing your application.

The assessment of application takes approximately 1 month and all applicants will be notified in writing of the outcome of their application.

The decision and outcome of your application is not open to appeal.

Please provide an itemised listing of your proposed product range (You must include photographs of merchandise to be sold).
What are your unique selling points?
What type of products could you could sell at cost price as per the Market Rules?
“Tenants must have at least 1 item of goods made available for sale to customers at Cost Price as an attraction to patrons on each trading day.”

How would your stall and product contribute to a vibrant and interesting Market? (Please give a full explanation eg. it is not sufficient to merely state that you are or have previously been a Tenant for any period).

Who are your competitors and what are the main points of difference that you will offer? (You should consider competitors both internal and external to Fremantle Markets)
Who is your target audience/customers?
In what ways will you ensure your stall operates in a sustainable and environmentally friendly way?
How many staff do you intend to employ?
What other tasks relating to the stall do you do during non-trading times and how many hours are spent on them?
How do you intend to train your staff so they will add value to your business and the Fremantle Markets as a whole?
What is your merchandising theme/display method and how do you propose to continuously improve your stall setup?
What capital improvements will you make to the stall including signage? What improvements will you make to the appearance of the stall? Please include estimated costs of improvements together with a detail plan of proposed changes. Please staple proposed plans to this application.
What is the proposed maintenance and cleaning program for the stall?
Briefly describe your marketing plan. (Other than relying on passing trade or word of mouth, how do you plan to get information about your product to your prospective customer?)
Please provide details of any previous retail business owned by you or retail experience (in each instance please provide dates). Include any relevant details such as qualifications or awards.

Financial Background
Plant & Equipment (currently owned and situated in stall, if any)
Already Owned – Item – Market Value – Service Cost

Plant and equipment to be purchased and installed in stall if application successful
Item – Purchase Price – Service cost

Personal Assets and Liabilities of Applicant
You Own: Cash available, Own Home, Other Real Estate, Superannuation, Savings/Shares, Furniture, Personal Effects, Vehicles, Other Assets. Total Value?
You Owe: Bills unpaid, Home Mortgage, Other Mortgage, Credit Cards, Vehicle Loan, Other Loan. Total?

What was that about a place for artisans, hand made products and an incubator for new start up businesses? I don’t think so…

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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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Freo councils unintended consequences

Whenever I speak about Fremantle Council I feel I should add a disclaimer. Some members of the council have given us so much support that I want to exclude them from the generic term of council. For the purpose of this blog I say Fremantle Council as a body or as a process, rather than as a collective mix of members.

I think it is important that the people of Freo know who has or will have the integrity to fight for them; after all, isn’t that why people vote for their members?

Kudos to: John Dowson, Georgie Adeane, Donna Haney, Sam Wainwright, Bill Massie, Andrew Sullivan and I will also still include Les Lauder for his enormous contribution.

The genuine depth of compassion, the tireless work and attention to detail, the stress and opposition they have endured and the ongoing tenacity is awe inspiring.

Reading through this month’s council minutes I feel we are all trapped in ‘groundhog day’. The issues or the arguments appear to change but basically it comes down to this:
Half the council know they screwed up but want to put it to bed and move on.
The other half tried to prevent it before it happened and have spent all this time trying to fix it.

John Dowson has spent months trying to create an alternate trading environment for the victims of the new market lease debacle. His vision not only offers great prospects for the stallholders but will potentially bring more visitors into the area and actually compliment the other market.

But, as is the way with bureaucracy, it all appears to be nit picked to death; the customary reports, meetings, financials, legal implications, proposals, terms and conditions, strategies and blowing smoke rings in the air. It will end up where it always ends up – just shredded paper for the next ticker tape parade – probably the next mayoral election.

It has already taken months to get it to ‘consideration’ stage. It will take at least a year before it could possibly become an actuality. If and or when it ever gets an affirmative we will find that all the king’s horses and all the king’s men couldn’t put humpty together again.

Glen Dougall will probably write something along the lines of: due to the severe lack of public interest, the decline of the Fremantle Markets and the disinterest of ‘dislodged’ stallholders we have deferred making further considerations - but will continue to monitor the situation.

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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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Fremantle markets - fair suck of the sav

Oh Jamie, “Fair suck of the sav old mate”. A little Aussie slang we little people use as an exclamation of incredulity. Truly, I was gobsmacked at your Feb ’10 report. (Interestingly, this report was only handed out to selected tenants: why?)

Quote:
“We have seen outgoing tenants working hard to generate negative publicity for the Markets, and to deliver on a prominent ex-stallholders promise to ‘do as much damage as possible before we go.’ In this they have received a lot of support from certain Councillors who should know better. The very public campaign against Fremantle Markets that has been waged by these people through the media, the internet, public protests and misguided comment in Council Chambers has had a negative impact on attendance numbers, and this is unconscionable*.

Be very clear – some outgoing tenants and misguided Councillors have demonstrated by their actions that they do not give a damn about the future of Fremantle Markets or the welfare of the current stallholders. They would like nothing more than to see the Markets fail.”

Oh dear, everyone in the world is conspiring against your good will and genius visions.

Facts:
When Donaldson and Murdoch Seniors ran the markets they were popular, successful, profitable to all parties and world renowned.

They did not compete nor compare with others. They were iconic within their own uniqueness.

Leases were frivolous but behind them was a ‘gentlemen’s agreement’ or a handshake that gave many security of tenure which held for twenty or more years.

No one needed to wear a name tag to contrive an insincere relationship with customers.

Stallholders mentored and nurtured each other and worked as a community within a community. No marketing guru will ever formulate or sell this X factor – it evolved over many, many years and included the hearts and personality of real people.

Previous management knew not to try and fix what wasn’t broken. Businesses relied on customer feedback for direction. Quite simply, if it didn’t sell, the business folded. Books do not teach anyone how to read a customer – only experience does.

Markets by definition must be good value for money with lots of atmosphere and offer an exhibition style of shopping. You have engineered it into a structured and disconnected meccano set. You can’t even figure out your trading hours.

Instead of supporting or protecting your tenants you have repeatedly bought in competitors who not only fail but take other well established businesses down with them.

You have relocated stalls into inappropriate positions and that has made it impossible for them to trade. They are a good number of the people who have been forced out of business and you have further robbed them of the right to sell what would have been a substantial amount of goodwill for a previously good business.

You have bullied people into dismissing their staff and you have demanded that some stop stocking some of their most popular lines. In some cases you have allowed others to then take on those same lines.

People have signed onto a long term lease believing they could sell the security of that only to find that you are now offering free entry into other vacant stalls. The promised security of tenure has now become a shackle.

The nepotistic advantages afforded Ms M's daughter has created a lot of acrimony and greatly disadvantaged the other coffee shop and to some degree other traders. This covert destruction and manipulation is being closely watched…

You doubled rents, increased outgoings, reduced advertising, relocated and reduced stall sizes. In doing this you forced product prices up and lost customers as well as successful traders. Some claim that this is now having a negative impact on other businesses throughout Fremantle.

You have even changed the nature of the markets - the very thing that made it a market.

On your one month to decide to “take it or leave it lease” many were unable to sell but in the few exceptions almost all of them who managed to sell, sold at less than cost. You had the audacity to write a cheerio in your newsletters making mention that they had sold and moved on. Truth: you forced them to sell out – they lost their livelihoods, their much loved business and their goodwill as well as most of their initial investment. Not to mention that most walked out with nothing at all.

Almost 25% of the stallholders have gone since you took on the new lease. A greater percentage of customers have also disappeared. Probable reason: they think the market is crap now!

Ann Meyer acts as your ventriloquist dummy and as irritating and disruptive as she is it is still your deeds which she does. You are backing her now but I suspect that she will be the fall guy when the ‘nice us up’ campaign gets underway. You are slick and you are in damage control. Miss M had better remember the many stallholders who backed you, campaigned and promoted for you - who you have now betrayed, dismissed and finacially devestated. Beware Miss M - the nature of the beast.

You sat in council and took names of all the people who had something to say about the predictable outcome of your megalomaniacal overtake. All but one or two of those people have since been shafted. You have systematically culled the people who opposed your ideas. They were right in their predictions and had you have been more open minded you would have realized that they were working to protect stallholders and trying to prevent this current chaos.

But now, seeing the insolence of your suggestion that stallholders should be entitled to expect you to be:
Helpful, friendly and ready to listen and;
Prepared to counsel, in a positive manner
Or that you ask them to:
Work with us as a team
Listen and respond and;
Avoid negative comment

Holy Moley you actually said:
“If you feel there are areas that need attention within the market please know that we are only a call away, or an email. We will make time to meet you to discuss your concern…We are committed to take all comments seriously.”

Excuse me, but wasn’t that what the stallholders association was all about? Do you honestly think that after the public flogging they received that there is anyone brave enough to offer any view that is not in line with your own dogma. Glaringly obvious, is the high rent. Do you wish to discuss this or can we take your quote from your Guru John Stanley’s website, “Jamie Murdoch, one of our clients in Fremantle, has just discovered a great article on “Only Losers Cut Their Prices”. Sounds pretty set in concrete to me….Discuss anything but the outrageous rents - the real issue!

This and your continued assertions that the rent is justified is ridiculous* when as soon as a rival and cheaper market was put on the drawing board you bleated something to the effect that stallholders would walk away on a daily basis. How can that be, I ask sarcastically, when you have said over and over it’s just a matter of ‘more professional traders’ Surly a new market housing your ‘cast offs’ is of no threat to your empire?

You talk about bullying in the workplace and yet most of the people there are intimidated by the victimization of all those who have been evicted or bullied into walking away. Such tensions currently exist that at least two assaults have occurred within the markets; bitchy and sarcastic comments are rife and even Ms M and Councillors have mentioned intimidation and feeling threatened – such is your leadership. This is all about you or because of you. How dare you suggest that ex-stallholders are ‘the trouble makers’? Let’s remind you once again that it was You who threatened to run the markets into the ground if You didn’t get what You wanted. You created bad blood with councillors and between stallholders and You gave the press the stories to write - they simply recorded your actions. There is a huge difference between retaliation and aggression – don’t you dare boo hoo when people push back!

Talk about intimidation, you have wiped the floor with the very people who fed you for most of your life. You glare and posture as people pack up and walk away, having lost everything, and in so many instances you felt the further vindictive need to stand security guards nearby to intimidate or humiliate; you changed locks prior to vacation, you made access difficult and gave limited time and extra pressure to get out. You didn’t even afford the decency to offer a note or word of thank you or good wishes.

Even your own parents put energy, effort and expertise into the market. They worked with stallholders to make it the success that it was – the successful enterprise handed to you on a plate. Can’t help but link that to your comment about 'in nature they eat their young!' I wish…

As for your inflammatory comments about ex-stallholders trying to damage either the markets or other stallholders I take strong objection and reiterate the intention has always been to fight you in regard to fair market rent and secure tenure. Reread your press coverage, this blog and the council transcripts – it is there over and over again. Ex-stallholders have lost their businesses and could easily move on without the aggravation but they are still campaigning collectively to fight for the success of Fremantle Markets (as a real market) and the security of all stallholders.

You are trying to suggest that there are 2 camps of stallholders and you are deliberately trying to pit them against each other. We are not so foolish that we don’t see that for what that is. We don’t consider ex stallholders and current stallholders as being on different teams. All stallholders are equally respected; many are very close friends and the new guys are as vulnerable as all of the rest. Our position is also inclusive of the customers and the Fremantle community as a whole.

Oh, and to blame everyone else for the decline in customers is just pathetic. Customers rarely complain officially or verbally, they simply walk away – doesn’t that say something?

You claim that the media, the internet, the public and the council are campaigning against Fremantle Market. What don’t you get? Let me help you with this with a very clear statement; we all loved the market – We dont love greed, ineptitude, arrogence, victimization or betrayal. Where or who is the common denominator?

*Unconscionable: Unusually harsh and shocking to the conscience; that which is so grossly unfair that a court will proscribe it. When a court uses the word unconscionable to describe conduct, it means that the conduct does not conform to the dictates of conscience. In addition, when something is judged unconscionable, a court will refuse to allow the perpetrator of the conduct to benefit.
*Ridiculous (John’s favourite scrabble word)
worthy of or exciting ridicule; absurd, preposterous, laughable, or contemptible

(Im sure all stallholders can drop by the office and ask for the full version of the progress report - in case they missed out on being given one)
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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)
For the latest post:
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John and Jamie Murdoch - Too many Chiefs and not enough Indians

I wonder if this guy will work out that the rents and high costs have killed the markets? (Probably too simple.)
I wonder if this guy will see that the markets have become a food hall and no longer hold appeal to people from outer suburbia or the tourist industry? (Not even the locals are returning)
I wonder if he will feel the resentment and disrespect that the Murdoch’s have created?

Will he:
Crunch the numbers on the futility of mid-week opening. (It’s guaranteed rent increase for the Murdoch’s but pure loss for the stallholders)
Check the authenticity of the outgoing costs or take seriously the expertise of the stallholder?
Can he work with the Murdoch’s blind resistance to the idea that costs and stallholders concerns are vitally significant?
Will he be ‘directed’ to conduct his surveys to come up ‘within the range’ of possibility.
Can people speak candidly and anonymously or will they be intimidated into saying what they need to say to appease their rulers.
Will he acknowledge the contribution and value of long term (and evicted) stallholders?
Will he study the lease agreements – secure both parties?

Maybe he is just another expert being paid big bucks to write yet another biased justification for the filing system. How many experts does it take? And is this where the ‘advertising’ fees are being absorbed?

I heard that one guy, when asked how he viewed the markets and the management, went into a tirade of its all F…ed

And is he just another Ms M or is this the end of her?

For the latest post:
http://sonyagreen.blogspot.com

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.



For the latest post:http://sonyagreen.blogspot.com

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?


For the latest post:
http://sonyagreen.blogspot.com

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?



For the latest post:
http://sonyagreen.blogspot.com

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



For the latest post:
http://sonyagreen.blogspot.com

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 ...



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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.
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