Too busy? Here’s the joke: The St Kilda PCYC CEO is so disconnected from the organisation that he leads that he is unaware that Victoria Police have had no material involvement with it for years.
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Yesterday (15 Oct), the Federal Opposition Leader, Susan Ley, stopped by the (presently closed) St Kilda PCYC while having a chat with Ali Moore on ABC Melbourne Drive.
In welcoming the Federal Opposition leader, Ali noted that after having been rebu"ed 34 times for an interview, suddenly here was Susan Ley talking about crime and...the St Kilda PCYC. It was the perfect venue to talk about how dangerous Melbourne is and that because the State government doesn’t fund St Kilda PCYC, crime will only get worse. Obviously.
So, a Federal Opposition Leader picks a State issue to wedge a State government into action against crime. Her prescription? A commitment to the multi-year funding of a local, community owned organisation. I wonder what her State counterparts thought...(a lot, actually...and you should listen to Jane Hume on Drive talk about the “missed opportunity” - if the whole show goes up). I guess people should just be grateful when the boss swings by your o#ce.
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Today (16/10) in an extraordinary interview with Ali Moore on ABC Radio Melbourne, the CEO of St Kilda PCYC talked about how it was Susan that called him not the other way around! He threw some numbers around, attempted like- for-like comparisons between St Kilda PCYC and the mega organisations that are the NSW and Queensland PCYC. Then came the programs. He spoke a lot about the important role that Victoria Police play in the organisation and specifically, how police members join the PCYC outreach with young people in Prahran.
The St Kilda PCYC does outreach there with two excellent social workers and volunteers, but Victoria Police have had no involvement in years. It’s not the first time that the CEO hasn’t been as prepared as he should have been - ask him about what other programs are delivered by the St Kilda PCYC. At first, many of us thought that he was telling porkies about police participation before it slowly dawned on us that he simply did not know. Following Chris, Ali interviewed member and past youth work volunteer, Glen Macann. She specifically asked about the di"erence it made having police involved. Glen had to explain that police were not involved and hadn’t been for some time.
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Following that, long time listener, first time caller, Tim from St Kilda managed to set out what’s actually happening. A CEO and Board that are selling a deeply loved community asset, without member approval, in order to create a vague peak body with no concrete connection to any community.
It is beyond belief that the CEO and Board are so removed from the youth programs that the PCYC delivers that they have no idea that the police are not involved. This is yet another example of the breathtaking arrogance of the CEO and Board and their contempt for our community and the people that they are supposed to serve.