In the midweek update from the Roundup,
Stonnington City Council appoints its new CEO
Wodonga looking for strength in numbers in its push for a new regional hospital
Renewed calls for better governance training for prospective councillors
A government backflip on demerger costs in NSW
A call for a public inquiry into land valuations
And a group of council members files a lawsuit against its own board of ethics.
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Transcript (with story links where available):
Hi, this is Chris Eddy, coming to you from the land of the Wadawurrung People with the latest from the Local Government News Roundup.
On the podcast today:
Stonnington City Council appoints its new CEO
Wodonga looking for strength in numbers in its push for a new regional hospital
Renewed calls for better governance training for prospective councillors
A government backflip on demerger costs in NSW
A call for a public inquiry into land valuations
And a group of council members files a lawsuit against its own board of ethics.
All that and much more ahead in the latest update from the Local Government News Roundup.
Thanks for joining me for today’s podcast – brought to you by the Victorian Local Governance Association.
Here are some of the Victorian council related stories making news in recent days.
The City of Stonnington has announced the appointment of former Gold Coast CEO Dale Dickson as its new chief executive officer.
Mr Dickson is a former footballer, whose football career began in Shepparton before playing for Melbourne and the Brisbane Bears in the 1980s.
He remained in Queensland and began a long career in local government. He was appointed in 2003 as chief executive at Gold Coast City Council, one of Australia’s most populous local government areas.
He held the Gold Coast CEO role for 19 years until early 2022.
Most recently he has served as CEO at Mt Isa.
Mr Dickson takes up his new role at Stonnington in late July.
Wodonga Council is casting the net wide for support for its push for a new hospital, as questions go unanswered about a planned upgrade of the existing Albury hospital.
The Council this week passed an eight part motion, that includes inviting the mayors of 16 other local government areas to join in discussions about future required health services in the region.
The group of Victorian and NSW Councils are considered part of a 300,000 population catchment with an interest in health services provision.
The Border Mail reports that Mayor Ron Mildren told this week’s meeting that there were unanswered questions about the upgrade plans of the two state governments, including what will be provided and when.
In a report from the ABC, the Mayor said that a request to meet with the Victorian Health Minister made late last year has not received any response.
Cr Kev Poulton said it was a disgrace that the Victorian government had turned its back on Wodonga, and everybody should be outraged by that.
Border Mail, 20-6-23, ABC News
Maribyrnong City Council last night abandoned a planning amendment that would have introduced planning controls in eight heritage precincts in West Footscray, and surrounding parts of Footscray and Maidstone.
The amendment, exhibited in early 2022, attracted nearly 200 submissions, with just 33 of those expressing support.
Mayor Sarah Carter said the council considered all aspects of the amendment and the community feedback, and determined the financial impacts on property owners would outweigh the benefits associated with heritage protection in this instance.
The Council will now seek ministerial approval of an amendment to remove an interim heritage overlay.
Knox City Council is considering leasing its kindergarten buildings to other providers, and ceasing to be a standalone sessional kindergarten provider.
It will consult its kindergarten staff on the proposed direction, after considering the results of a service analysis and review.
Mayor Marcia Timmers-Leitch said state government reforms meant it was no longer feasible for the Council to run kindergartens at the scale it has done to date.
Knox has directly operated up to 30 kindergarten services, and is one of very few Melbourne councils to operate services at that scale.
The Council is expected to make a final decision on the proposal in August.
At Northern Grampians Shire, a review of the council’s support for older residents has been commenced.
The review, to be conducted by an independent consultant, will focus on gaining a better understanding of the broader health and well being needs of older people and other residents who require council support.
The council says the information collected will be used to develop a strategic direction for the future role of the council in community-based home care services.
Northern Grampians Shire Council
Geelong residents have been warned to double-check their parking fines, after it was discovered that fraudulent parking tickets are being used in Greater Geelong.
The fake tickets were first noticed this week, following similar discoveries in other municipalities in recent months.
Greater Geelong Council said the fake tickets have a realistic appearance, but contain elements that do not appear on authentic tickets, such as a QR code.
The Council has advised people receiving a parking ticket not to click on any link or use a QR code, and take the time to make sure it is an official Greater Geelong ticket.
The ASU and the ANMF have stepped up protected industrial action at Darebin,.
A range of indefinite bans and work stoppages have been advised by the unions, including bans fee collections, mowing of parks, and picking up dead animals.
The Council says it has made a fair and reasonable offer, with a wage increase and improved employment conditions, which balances the need to be financially sustainable in a rate-capped environment.
Now in today’s Victorian Briefs:
Campaspe Shire Council will receive $1.2M in government funding to strengthen its emergency management capability and community resilience.
The funding will go towards flood study work, a flood risk management plan, demountable levee panels, and helping link flood-impacted residents to local trades for the rebuilding of their homes.
East Gippsland Shire has also received $1.2M in funding which will be used to extend current projects advancing disaster preparedness and resilience.
The work will include a disaster readiness dashboard on the council website and a climate risk assessment tool.
Swan Hill Rural City Council has announced that it is resuming debt collection procedures, following a period of suspension during COVID-19.
The Council says it will be pursuing outstanding revenue, using all possible legal means, while having due regard to genuine applications for financial hardship.
Preliminary reports for 16 councils in the second stage of electoral structure reviews will begin to be released from next week.
There will be public information sessions and a submission period for each review.
The reports will be released in groups of four, commencing with Ballarat, Greater Bendigo, Horsham and Mildura.
Victorian Electoral Commission
And Mornington Peninsula Shire Council has picked up two awards at the Australian Road Safety Awards in Canberra for its Safer Speeds Project.
The project aimed to reduce road trauma and led to the speed limit on 33 shire-managed high risk sealed rural roads reduced to 80km/h.
It won the Rural and Remote Programs awards, and was the overall winner with the Founder’s Award.
Mornington Peninsula Shire Council
There are renewed calls this week for more and better governance training for councillors ahead of next year’s Victorian council elections.
ABC News this week published a report in which former Moira Mayor Libro Mustica, Wodonga Councillor Kev Poulton, and Strathbogie Mayor Laura Binks all call for increased efforts to better equip potential councillors for the role.
Each of their councils have been subject to some form of government intervention this term. Moira is under administration until 2028; Strathbogie currently has a second monitor in 12 months in place; while a municipal monitor’s term at Wodonga concluded earlier this year.
VLGA CEO Kathryn Arndt supported the call for more thorough training for councillors, and said greater investment is needed to prepare and support councillors in their governance responsibilities.
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Now for some of the stories making local government news from around Australia this week.
The new local government minister in NSW has reportedly decided the state won’t pick up the costs of demerger plans, despite previous assurances that it would.
A report from the Sydney Morning Herald suggests that no money will be set aside for council demergers in the state budget, despite some councils like Inner West and Snowy Valleys being well advanced in their consideration of demerging.
Until this week, it was understood the Labor Government would provide funding for demergers that had community support, after having changes inserted in the legislation in 2021 to that effect.
The change of heart has been described as a “huge backflip” and one that could mean any planned demerger would be unlikely to proceed.
Meanwhile, the NSW Premier has gone on the attack against councils for blocking housing developments in the Sydney metro area.
Chris Minns last week announced incentives for large private developments that contain a minimum 15% affordable housing, including a bypass of local councils and planning panels.
He has criticised mayors who are opposing the changes, and said he is prepared to take on the fight with councils in order to increase housing supply across the metropolitan area.
Soaring land valuations in the Blue Mountains have led to a call from the council for a public inquiry by the NSW Valuer General.
Mayor Mark Greenhill said the valuer general needs to be held accountable for wild fluctuations, which don’t return extra money to the council and community, and instead hurt some very vulnerable people.
The valuation increases, up to 100 per cent in some cases, will mean large rate increases for some Blue Mountains ratepayers, while around 36 per cent will see a rate reduction.
According to the Blue Mountains Gazette, the council unanimously supported a call for a public inquiry, and is encouraging ratepayers to challenge their valuation if they think their land is not worth what the Valuer General says it’s worth.
Blue Mountains Gazette , 21-6-23
The city of Hobart has adopted budget measures to tackle the impact of short stay rentals and land banking on the housing market.
Owners of short-stay accommodation will see their rates double, in a decision that AirBnb says is disappointing and will put a handbrake on tourism.
The council has also voted to increase rates on vacant residential land in a move it argues will encourage development of that land for housing and other purposes.
In an ABC report, Lord Mayor Anna Reynolds said there were around 450 vacant residential blocks in Hobart, and the new rate differential will raise an extra $500,000 from those ratepayers.
The Tasmanian council at the centre of an investigation into recruitment practices has been confirmed to be West Tamar.
Mayor Christina Holmdahl had previously declined to respond to media reports that the council had been under investigation by the Integrity Commission.
The Launceston Examiner reports that Mayor Holmdahl has now confirmed that her council has changed employment practices as a result of the investigation.
The changes include clearer record keeping; demonstrating how applicants compare against each other; and requirements for declarations of conflicts of interest in all recruitments.
The investigation resulted from an anonymous complaint to the Integrity Commission, and made no findings of misconduct.
$ Launceston Examiner, 20-6-23
Briefly:
Two senior executives have resigned at Snowy Monaro Regional Council.
The resignations of Chief Operating Officer Jeff Morgan, and Chief Financial Officer Tracy Sligar follow a decision by the Council in April not to renew the contract of Chief Executive Officer Peter Bascomb.
The Council says it is considering deferring recruitment of replacements until after the appointment of a new CEO.
The Chief Executive Officer of the Shire of Katanning in Western Australia has resigned after eight years in the position.
Julian Murphy will be taking up a new role as Chief Executive of the Shire of Plantagenet starting in September.
The Council will begin the recruitment process for a new CEO immediately.
The value of international exposure for the city of Wollongong from last year’s UCI Road Cycling World Championship has been estimated at $72M.
A summary report prepared for the Council highlights legacies and benefits of being the host city for the event, with an estimated viewership of 164 M people across the world.
Now for today’s International Spotlight:
In New York state, a mayor and three council members have filed a lawsuit against their city’s board of ethics after it issued an opinion that the quartet had violated the city code of ethics.
The board in the City of Rye conducted an investigation and issued a non-confidential finding that limits Councilmembers to vote on issues regarding a so-called tree moratorium. The board’s opinion said that the lawmakers’ actions gave an appearance of a conflict of interest.
Mayor Josh Cohn and three council members dispute the finding, contending they were simply acting within the proper scope of their public duties.
The lawsuit seeks among other things that the opinion be vacated, and a writ of prohibition be issued against the board’s “intrusion into the legislative procedure, process and municipal law.”
Los Angeles City Council makes the spotlight again this edition, this time over the bussing of migrants from Texas to LA.
KNX News reports that the council is pursuing an investigation into whether the political stunt by the Governor of Texas amounts to human trafficking and kidnapping.
Last week, 42 migrants were transported by bus from the Texas-Mexico border to LA’s Union Station, with hints from Governor Greg Abbott that more shipments of immigrants could follow.
The Governor described the action in a statement as “much-needed relief” that would continue until President Joe Biden secures the border.
LA Mayor Karen Bass described the Governor’s actions as abhorrent – using human beings as pawns in cheap political games.
A council in Tennessee is offering cash bonuses to staff members who come up with money saving ideas.
Chattanooga City Council has approved an incentive program with a sliding scale of bonuses payable depending on the amount of money saved through the idea.
The TimesFreePress reports that an idea that saves between $1,000 and $5,000 would earn a $100 bonus; while an innovation saving over $500,000 would earn a bonus of $5,000.
The council has set aside a budget of $50,000 for the incentive program in the upcoming year.
And while on the subject of cost savings, a four day working week trial at an English council has been estimated to have saved £333,000 since it began in January.
South Cambridgeshire District Council has already extended the trial for 450 desk based staff until March of next year.
According to the BBC, it was the first local authority to trial a shorter week; and the council says it had helped to fill job vacancies and save money.
An analysis of performance indicators has found that in most instances, performance has been maintained close to a historical average, with improvements recorded in some services.
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That’s the latest from the Roundup for the 21st June 2023.
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The Local Government News Roundup is recorded in the city of Greater Geelong, Victoria, on the land of the Wadawurrung People of the Kulin Nation.
I’ll be back soon with more of the latest local government news. Until next time, thanks for listening, and bye for now.