In your latest update from the Local Government News Roundup available now,
Municipal monitors on the way for a Victorian council;
Councils get their message across in Canberra on proposed water legislation;
The Victoria government starts recruiting to find 90 new planners;
A Council CEO responds to media reporting about the removal of posters concerning the Israel/Gaza conflict;
The latest mayoral election results;
A deputy mayor removed from office;
A new mayor defends a decision to trigger an extraordinary election;
A councillor found to have engaged in inappropriate conduct;;
and the international city planning to phase out fossil fuel cars from its central areas.
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Stories in this episode (with links where available)
Victorian Roundup:
Victorian Local Government Minister Melissa Horne will appoint municipal monitors to Glenelg Shire Council for a three month period.
Minister Horne said the decision followed a request from the shire’s mayor Cr Scott Martin over concerns with culture in the council organisation.
Three councillors have resigned in recent months, and the CEO Paul Phelan has resigned after ten months in the position.
Two monitors, yet to be named, will be charged with identifying what is needed to support the council for improved governance and to guide the recruitment of a new chief executive officer.
This year’s mayoral election has been postponed by a week to the 8th November, and the council said it has appointed corporate services director David Hol as Acting CEO to enable the statutory meeting to take place.
Two countbacks have been scheduled to fill the vacancies created by the resignations of Jayden Smith and Chrissy Hawker.
The first will be conducted on Monday 20th November at 10am, and the second on Monday 4th December, also at 10am.
Mayors, councillors and CEOs from across metropolitan Melbourne came together last week for an MAV forum to help develop a clear vision for local government’s response to the state government’s housing statement.
MAV CEO Kelly Grigsby said the government’s ambitious goal of building 800,000 homes in ten years can only be achieved in partnership with local government.
She said the MAV will continue to advocate for policy that meets housing needs, ensuring there is infrastructure to support growth, and that the community is brought along on the journey.
Meanwhile, the state government has launched a recruitment campaign for 90 new planners to deliver its housing reforms and again took aim at councils for approval delays.
It said the new team of planners will work to support councils to clear a backlog of 1,400 applications for multi-unit housing that it says have been sitting with councils for more than six months.
The City of Stonnington’s new CEO, Dale Dickson, has responded to public and media comments about the council’s removal of posters from public infrastructure.
The posters relate to the Israel-Gaza conflict, and their removal has prompted accusations that the council has taken sides in the conflict.
Mr Dickson said the various reports have not necessarily been complete or accurate.
He said the council’s actions were in accordance with its local law and were not in regard to the content of the posters in question.
The local law requires public infrastructure to be kept free of material, irrespective of its content, unless prior approval is granted.
Mr Dickson said he acknowledged the concern and distress that had arisen from the media reporting of the Council’s actions.
The Murray River Group of Councils, comprising the six northern Victorian councils of Campaspe, Gannawarra, Loddon, Mildura, Moira and Swan Hill, has spoken at a committee inquiry in Canberra this week against the proposed water amendment bill.
Cr Rob Amos, the mayor of Campaspe, led the group’s presentation, asserting that independent research and collective experience shows water buybacks damage local industries, economies and communities.
The councils want parliamentarians to look beyond water targets alone, and apply a triple-bottom line lens in their consideration of the bill.
Mayoral election season in Victoria is picking up pace. Here are the latest results we’ve picked up on…
At Hume City Council, Cr Naim Kurt has been elected mayor, succeeding Joseph Haweil in the role, and Karen Sherry will remain deputy mayor.
Ian Smith has returned to the mayoral position in Moyne, succeeding Karen Foster who did not contest the position. Cr Smith was mayor in 2021/22. Cr Foster will be deputy mayor for the final year of the current council term.
East Gippsland Shire Council has elected Tom Crook as mayor uncontested. He succeeds Mark Reeves after two terms as mayor, and Jane Greacen OAM is the new deputy mayor.
Pierce Tyson has been re-elected at Moonee Valley City Council, the first time at that council where a mayor will serve two consecutive years within a council term. Former mayor Narelle Sharpe is deputy mayor.
And at Southern Grampians Shire, the council has gone for stability with the re-election of David Robertson and Helen Henry as mayor and deputy, respectively.
The candidate list for the Maroondah City Council by-election has been finalised.
Four candidates will contest the seat vacated by Marijke Graham who resigned in September.
The candidates in ballot order are Brendan Powell, Chris Jones, Bonnie Meiselbach and Tamara Lloyd.
Voting in the postal election will close on 1st December.
Victorian Briefs:
Indigo Shire mayor Sophie Price has paid tribute to the local volunteers behind the success of Beechworth being named yet again the Victorian Tidy Town of the Year.
It’s the fifth time the town has won the title.
In more Indigo news, the council has voted to introduce a 24-hour cat curfew.
The curfew will come into effect in six months, with owners encouraged to use that time to introduce containment measures at the properties.
Baw Baw Shire Council has signed a new five-year agreement with TechnologyOne, to help streamline council operations.
Under the new deal, the council will replace existing software used in its finance, supply chain management, human resources and property & rating functions with TechnologyOne’s OneCouncil SaaS solution.
In a first for the city of Manningham, Mayor Dierdre Diamante has officially opened a dementia-friendly cafe.
The Memory Place Cafe in Doncaster is supported by the proceeds of a Mayoral Charity Gala, which raised over $51,000 for the initiative.
National Roundup:
NSW:
An extraordinary meeting of Waverley Council has resulted in the deputy mayor position being declared vacant, and the removal of committee responsibilities for two councillors.
The move follows public outcry over the refusal of now former deputy mayor Cr Ludovico Fabiano and Cr Dominic WY Kanak to support a motion condemning the Hamas attacks in Israel.
Mayor Paula Masselos issued a statement after the meeting in which she said the role of elected councillors is to serve the needs of the local community and ensure that it feels safe and supported.
Cr Fabiano said on Facebook that he and Cr Kanak had unequivocally condemned the Hamas attack on Israeli civilians and that this is not the time for politicians to seek political mileage from a conflict on the other side of the planet.
Former mayor and councillor at Murray River Council, Chris Bilkey, has resigned after nearly seven years due to ongoing health issues.
Cr Bilkey was the first mayor of Murray River Council, holding the position for nearly two terms until Cr Frank Crawley stepped into the role last month.
Prior to being elected to Murray River Council in 2017, Cr Bilkey was a councillor on the former Murray Shire. CEO Terry Dodds has paid tribute to his tireless contributions to the community of more than a decade of service.
The passing of Orange City Council’s longest-serving mayor has drawn tributes this past week.
John Davis OAM served across Blayney Shire and Orange City councils for more than 30 years, with twelve years spent as mayor of Orange until his retirement from local government in 2017.
Orange Mayor Jason Hamling said the city has lost a great leader and advocate.
QLD:
The mayor of Queensland’s Logan City Council, Darren Power, has announced that he will not seek re-election in the 2024 local government elections, ending a 27 year career in local politics.
Mr Power was first elected in 1997, and became the city’s mayor in March 2020.
He said that he is proud of his achievements and legacy, but feels that it is time to pass the baton to a new generation of leaders.
His term ends with local government elections in March next year.
A Noosa councillor has been found to have engaged in inappropriate conduct.
The council has recorded the findings that Cr Brian Stockwell breached the code of conduct on two occasions in March this year, according to a report from Noosa Today.
The behaviour related to emails that were found to be unfair and discourteous to council employees.
The Council has formally expressed its disapproval of the conduct, ordering a reprimand and training or counselling at Cr Stockwell’s expense to occur within a period of three months.
TAS:
Launceston CEO Michael Stretton will be the next CEO of the city of Hobart.
Lord Mayor Anna Reynolds announced Mr Stretton’s appointment to the position on a five year contract, commencing in February.
He has led Launceston council since 2017, and was previously GM of Waratah-Wynyard council for three years.
The Hobart CEO position was vacated earlier this year by Kelly Grigsby after 2 years in the role.
Ms Grigsby is now the CEO of the Municipal Association of Victoria.
WA:
The newly elected mayor of the City of Bayswater has defended her decision to resign as a councillor prior to the recent elections, triggering an extraordinary election likely to cost the city around $40K.
Filomena Piffaretti gave an opening statement at the first Council meeting after the election, saying the decision was the right thing to do.
PerthNow reports that the new mayor faced questions from the public gallery about the resignation, the timing of which meant that the councillor position couldn’t be filled at the general elections.
The longest wait for an outcome from the recent elections was experienced at the City of Swan, where two recounts were needed because of counting discrepancies.
The results were finally declared six days after the polls closed, with Tanya Richardson emerging as the city’s first popularly elected mayor in a close mayoral contest.
Mayor Richardson served as a councillor from 2019 before contesting for the mayoralty.
The City of Swan now has a majority female council, and there’s been an injection of youth with two new councillors in their 20s.
National Briefs:
The Mayor and CEO of the City of Cockburn in WA have welcomed to Perth representatives from the sister city of Split, in Croatia.
A delegation has spent a week in Cockburn touring the city, and exploring areas of interest such as smart city technology, sustainability initiatives and tourism precincts.
Edward River Council has thrown its support behind a proposed Southern Riverina Country Universities Centre to serve the Edward River, Hay Shire, Berrigan Shire and Murray River council areas.
A steering committee is preparing an application to the Federal Government for support for the proposal, which Edward River Mayor Peta Betts says would provide much-needed educational opportunities for the region and help to address workforce challenges in the long run.
Applications are open for the CEO position at WA’s Shire of Wyalkatchem, a wheatbelt community two hours’ drive from Perth.
The recruitment is being handled by Mills Recruitment, with applications due by 15th November.
Two South Australian CEO positions are currently open for applications.
At Kingston District Council, on the Limestone Coast, applications are sought by 19th November, with LG Talent handling the process.
Flinders Ranges Council in South Australia is also recruiting for a CEO.
McArthur is handling that one and applications close on the 20th of November.
International Spotlight:
NZ:
In New Zealand, in the wake of a reprimand for councils from the country’s chief ombudsman about private council workshops, Dunedin City Council has opened its workshop sessions to the public, effective immediately.
The informal meetings, commonly known as briefing sessions, were closed to the public and the media, and no agendas or minutes were published.
But from now on Dunedin will invite the public into their workshop sessions, with some exceptions where commercial sensitivity or legal privilege requires confidentiality.
The website Crux welcomed the move, after campaigning for more openness and transparency in the council’s processes.
Nelson City Council is another looking at transparency, announcing a review of its governance structure in response to the Ombudsman report.
According to the Nelson Mail, the council last year replaced its public committee meetings with sessions known as taskforces, which are not open to the public. It does however hold open workshops.
A new chief executive has been announced to lead Auckland Council for the next four years.
Phil Wilson, who has been acting chief executive since July, will officially assume the position next week.
The announcement of his appointment by Mayor Wayne Brown included details of his remuneration package of $600K per annum, a $30K reduction on the previous chief executive’s salary.
UK:
The CEO of bankrupt Woking Borough Council has announced that she will step down in February after the council agrees to its new budget.
Julie Fisher, who has been in the role for two and a half years, said the organisation is on a path to recovery, and now is the time to hand over to somebody with fresh energy.
She said she would work councillors and commissioners to ensure a smooth transition to new leadership arrangements.
The UK Local Government Association has commenced the search for a new chief executive, after the departure of Mark Lloyd last month.
Applications for the £200K position close on the 26th November.
EUROPE:
The City of Barcelona in Spain has announced plans to dramatically boost its public EV charging network, from the current 50 stations to 550 by next year.
The increase would make it one of the largest public charging networks in Europe, according to a report from themayor.eu
The city council and the European Regional Development Fund are investing 8.3M euros into the project.
And in Sweden, the city of Stockholm plans to phase out fossil fuel cars from its central areas from 2025.
The city’s mayor says the move is about creating a more liveable and sustainable city, creating more space for pedestrians, cyclists and public transport.
The city also plans to invest in EV charging infrastructure and incentives for car-sharing and mobility services.
The city council is due to vote on the plan this month and is dealing with mixed reactions from those in support, and those concerned about accessibility and affordability impacts.