An article today in the Geelong Independent seems to indicate that the position of Surf Coast Mayor could soon change hands, and Cr Dean Webster is the primary contender.

Normally this wouldn’t be significant news in the grand scheme of things, just usual everyday council business - except Cr Humphrey had to throw in his 0.02 peso’s worth!! We won’t requote here, there is no need, it speaks for itself.

If you want to read the online version (and it is still available) -> Click here and if the link doesn’t work, the text of the original (unedited) article is posted here for your convenience, courtesy of the Star News Group!!

We couldn’t be sure, but the quotes seem to indicate Cr Ron is not the most popular guy on the block… interesting…

Mayor backs Webster
30 November 2007

Alex de Vos

SURF Coast Shire Mayor Rose Hodge will throw her weight behind Councillor Dean Webster at next months mayoral election.

Cr Hodge said she would support Cr Webster tilt for the mayoralty if she decided not to recontest the position on December 14 after Cr Webster told the Independent he would run if the mayor stood down.

Cr Hodge said she had to consider family commitments before deciding her future.

The mayor said Cr Webster would be the best person for the job because of his “work ethic and support for councillors”.

“Dean has just been fantastic and he is so supportive of me,” Cr Hodge said.

But Cr Ron Humphrey said the two councillors had made a “backroom deal” to elect Cr Webster.

“Dean will be the next mayor and it highlights that a mates’ deal has been made,” he said.

Cr Hodge was “playing games”, Cr Humphrey said.

He said the next mayor should be “a reflection of the community and not a reflection of your mates”.

Cr Webster had been silent on a number of community issues, including dogs on leads and nude beaches, he said.

He said Cr Webster “wasn’t worthy” of a mayoral position.

“Dean has never attended a dogs on lead meeting and doesn’t possess leadership qualities,” he said.

But Cr Webster rejected Cr Humphrey’s claims.

“I’ve attended a dozen more meetings than Cr Humphrey ever has and ever would,” Cr Webster said.

“Cr Humphrey tends to offend the community and doesn’t work with them – I’d rather work with the community.

“I don’t take much notice of Cr Humphrey and I don’t think anyone does.”

Cr Webster said he welcomed Cr Hodge’s support.

After the fascinating but completely misleading article “Nude Beach Sex Shock”, the Addy was good enough to run a letter to the editor response, which they could have ignored so kudos to them for printing it up!!

We couldn’t locate an online version, so here’s a scan from the paper itself -> Click here

We completely agree - if there is any kind of activity going on that should be reported to police, do so!! Nude beach, clothed beach, or centre of town - inappropriate behaviour should be reported.

Thanks Rob for writing in to the paper - be great if more people wrote in to the papers, but if you don’t want to be that outspoken, drop us a line here and let us know your thoughts.

Just when we all thought it was going to be a quiet summer, the Geelong Advertiser decided to come out and show us all that not much has changed. An article appeared today with a reader-grabbing headline that was immediately shown to be completely inaccurate IN THE ARTICLE ITSELF!!!

Now, we’d like to give Rebecca Tucker the benefit of the doubt and assume she is not also responsible for creating the headlines that the Addy runs, but it does go to show that whoever is writing these catchy phrases isn’t actually reading the articles when they come up with these gems!!

So, just to clarify in case anyone can’t see it for themselves in this article (or the plain text of the article below if the link does not work) - there was no sex on the nude beach, the incident happened on the clothed area about 1km away from where the clothing optional area starts!! Clearly we can now expect a summer of reports of activity all along the Surf Coast that will be blamed on the nude beaches - don’t worry about facts, if there was sand involved then the nudists must be to blame!!

On a positive note, it was great that Mrs Simpson reported the incident to police - that is exactly what any beach-goer should do on ANY beach, since incidents like this are not legal and should not be tolerated. It was also great to see Mrs Simpson calling for better signage, since this is exactly what the nudist community also wants, and was agreed as one of the outcomes from the council workshops held so many months ago.

We’ll wait to hear if there are any calls to have the clothed beaches closed, since they are clearly attracting inappropriate behaviour… OK, we’re being facetious, but we hope the point is pretty obvious!!

Nude beach sex shock
Rebecca Tucker

25Nov07

A NAKED couple having sex at Pt Addis beach shocked a mother walking with her teenage daughter on Saturday afternoon.

Katrina Simpson said she was on the beach about 12.30pm with her husband and their teenage daughter when they came across the indecent act.

She said the couple was in full view, about 30m to the right of the beach access stairs, in the area designated for full clothing.

The Surf Coast beach is famous for its optional dress code, but that does not begin for about 1km to the left of the steps.

Mrs Simpson said the couple was to the right of the steps in the general access area.

But she said regardless of which section they were in, their sexual activity should not have been on public display.

“I’m not a wowser but I have great respect for our community and this is a community beach,'’ Mrs Simpson, a nearby resident for the past 25 years, said.

She telephoned the police after witnessing the incident.

Mrs Simpson earlier this year campaigned for better signage at the beach, raising concerns sunbathers did not know where the optional dress area began.

She said at the time that some male nudists used that as an excuse to parade naked in the general access area.

At the weekend she renewed calls to improve signage, beginning with postings on Pt Addis Rd so people were aware of the different zones before they got to the beach.

Mrs Simpson said apart from the couple having sex at the general access area, her family also came across a naked man reading his newspaper.

“He was still in the wrong area but he covered up with the paper, so at least he was being discreet,'’ she said.

“We’re coming to the start of the summer season and we’re going to have the same issues as last year unless something is done about it.

“It’s a national park so we have every right to be there and people may have a right to choose not to wear clothing but they don’t have to do it in our face, that’s what the other area is for.'’

But Mrs Simpson said no area was suitable for public sex.