Cessnock Council: Ignoring Residents While Raising Your Rates Cessnock Council proved tonight what everyone suspected: they don’t work for the people. They work for themselves. Your voice? Your money? Your concerns? Irrelevant. They just voted to send an application to IPART for a 39% special rate increase—that’s right, nearly 40% more out of your pocket—based entirely on the advice of a consultant professor who makes a fortune telling councils what they want to hear. And how much did that advice cost you? $90,000. Ninety thousand dollars for a report that exists solely to justify spending more of your money. Meanwhile, the same council...