To be honest it doesn't matter now that you gave me the finger and sped up the inside of my lane... maybe I was not going fast enough as I changed lanes - did I cause you to slow down just a little? You probably thought I was inconsiderate or maybe just a bad driver...

How were you to know that we had just got word that our dear friend, only 43 years of age, had unexpectedly just died, only hours before.

We were staying in Milton for the night - had just seen our friend's band play, our friend's brother was with us too - dancing, smiling the night before not knowing that in a few hours, his and his family's worlds were about to shatter.

You weren't to know that when you so eloquently flipped your hand out the window in obvious annoyance, we were on our way to Werri Beach, when she had been staying with her husband and her children who are only four and six years old.

We were to be met by her grief stricken husband and her friends at the caravan park who tried desperately to save her life... like us, all in shock. They think maybe a blood clot, as it was almost instant.

Maybe 43 may seem old to you, if you're much younger, but she had a whole lot of life to live yet and will be missed by all she touched with her kind soul.

Maybe you won't read this or maybe you were from another town.

Maybe someone else will read this and think, like me, that everyone has a story, a perception, and a moment and that most people are not intentionally trying to anger or annoy others.

Maybe you will think about that few seconds you lost by having to slow down and realise it didn't really matter...

There is a council election on September 12, 2020, and if you are concerned about the Shoalhaven, I suggest you try and attend at least one council meeting or listen to the meeting recordings at https://webcast.shoalhaven.nsw.gov.au/ to observe the unbecoming conduct of some of our elected councillors.

I understand that Amanda Findley, our elected mayor, was not elected to attend the recent NSW annual Local Government Association conference, as a result of an internal vote by fellow councillors.

At last year's conference, on behalf of our Indigenous community, Mayor Findley made an amendment to one of the motions going to the national conference, which was involving The Uluru Statement from The Heart. She had been told by some councillors that she was not to speak about this issue. How democratic or representative is that?

We have a popularly elected mayor, elected to represent the residents' needs, and is not restricted to the demands of some of the councillors. It is ironic when the mayor has a mayoral minute on the agenda, the same councillor stands up and disagrees, and puts his own agenda forward, which is passed by the usual block of councillors.

In the past 12 months or so, three directors have been replaced. The selection of these people was outsourced to one of the three proposed recruitment companies. The mayor put forward a proposal suggesting that a different company be engaged to select the new chief executive officer (general manager), with a selection panel consisting of the mayor, deputy mayor, two councillors and one independent community member. This was challenged by Councillor Mitchell Pakes. He nominated the same company which had already been engaged, and he subsequently nominated the members of the panel, including himself, while excluding an independent community member.

This continual white-anting means council is unable to represent community needs.