On the latest edition of the Local Government News Roundup, a former mayor suspended for two months over a serious misconduct finding; claims of nepotism pointed at Greater Geelong council; a housing success story from the southwest of Victoria; a tick of approval from the inspectorate for a rural council; a successful land auction for a Qld council; and much more news from around the world of local government.
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Transcript (with story links):
Episode 198 LG News Roundup, 17 February 2023
Hi, this is Chris Eddy, with the latest from the Local Government News Roundup.
On the podcast today – a former mayor suspended for two months over a serious misconduct finding; claims of nepotism pointed at Greater Geelong council; a housing success story from the southwest of Victoria; a tick of approval from the inspectorate for a rural council; a successful land auction for a Qld council; and much, much more ahead on the Local Government News Roundup.
The former mayor of Mildura Rural City, Councillor Jason Modica, has been suspended for a two month period after a conduct panel found he had engaged in serious misconduct.
The finding relates to a failure to declare a conflict of interest on three occasions during 2021, with regard to a planning application for the use of land for rural industry in the municipality. The inspectorate said Cr Modica’s sister lived opposite the land, and was operating a similar business without a permit.
Cr Modica has been ordered to make an apology to the council, alongside the suspension. He is also ineligible to chair a delegated committee until July.
Chief Municipal Inspector Michael Stefanovic, who made the application for the finding, said the decision shows the importance of declaring conflicts of interest for integrity and accountability in local government.
Mildura Council CEO Martin Hawson told the ABC that the case had highlighted the robust measures in place in the local government sector and within his council, particularly around conflicts of interest.
Read the panel decision here, and the ABC report here.
A report from the ABC has raised concerns about nepotism in recruitment practices at Greater Geelong City Council.
The claims of “soft corruption” follow the recent appointment of municipal monitors over concerns from the local government inspectorate about the transparency and integrity of the council’s CEO recruitment process.
Senior officer numbers at the council are reported to have climbed by 43 per cent in one year, and it is claimed that a new recruitment policy removed the obligation to advertise senior roles.
The ABC report quotes an anonymous source and multiple former staff members.
Ratepayers Victoria is calling on the government to launch an investigation.
The provision of cabins at caravan parks in Moyne Shire for use primarily by key workers has been hailed as a huge success, with most fully booked by local businesses since the commencement of the initiative last year.
Moyne Shire CEO Brett Davis says many local businesses have been able to complete important projects because they’ve been able to attract skilled staff by providing a much needed accommodation option.
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Brett says there’s been strong interest in the initiative from around the country.
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My full interview with Brett Davis is available as a special bonus episode of the Roundup available to Friends of the Roundup subscribers now.
Six candidates will contest the upcoming by-election for Mornington Peninsula Shire Council to fill the vacancy in Watson Ward created by Paul Mercurio’s election to the Victorian Parliament.
The four men and two women to contest the election, in ballot paper order, are: Stefan Borzecki; Michael Stephens; Rob Clarke; Ben Loois; Susie Beveridge and Kate Roper.
Voting in the postal election will close on 17th March.
The Local Government Inspectorate has found a significant improvement in governance and culture at Yarriambiack Shire Council since a 2019 investigation report.
The investigation focussed on allegations that community assets and resources had either not been properly managed or were used for the benefit of individuals.
It found significant issues including a lack of accountability, a lack of responsible use of resources, and poor governance generally. A number of the issues related to asset and resource management at the Council’s Hopetoun depot, with minimal oversight by council administration.
An inspectorate review of documentation and interviews with staff in 2022 demonstrated positive change leading to improved governance.
Chief Municipal Inspector Michael Stefanovic congratulated previous and current CEOs Jessie Holmes and Tammy Smith for delivering on a commitment to address the issues identified in the 2019 report.
You can read the full statement from the Local Government Inspectorate on the Roundup website.
Latrobe City Council has called on the federal and Victorian Governments for urgent support for works at Opal Mill in Maryvale, after the announcement this week that white paper operations at the mill will cease because of a lack of wood supply.
Mayor Kellie O’Callaghan said the news created further uncertainty for the local community, even though there was an awareness of impending closures and changes to local industry.
The council has called on the Victorian Government to fast-track their commitment to establishing the State Electricity Commission in Morwell, and associated renewable energy projects to allow for a timely transition.
Corangamite Shire Council will make a case to the Victorian Electoral Commission to keep a ward-based electoral structure.
The council met this week to determine a formal position, and has instructed its chief executive officer to make a submission to the electoral representation review process for a new ward-based structure.
Its preferred option would see the existing three member Central Ward divided into three single member wards, alongside four existing single member wards.
Briefly in other news:
Illegal dumpers in Mitchell Shire are on notice, with the council this week announcing the installation of new CCTV cameras in illegal dumping hotspots.
Mayor Fiona Stevens said the council is fed up with the lazy, inconsiderate behaviour of some that is dramatically impacting the overwhelming majority who do the right thing – and costing the council more than $180k a year.
She said offending dumpers will feel the full force of the council and be penalised.
Hands-on digital literacy training for seniors will be rolled out across Victorian libraries, funded by a new $2M state government program.
The funding will be allocated to eligible public libraries through councils and regional library corporations to provide one-to-one and small group sessions on topics relating to hardware and software.
The program will also fund hiring and training of staff, the upgrade of digital equipment, and minor changes to library facilities.
It’s back to back Gold for Frankston City, which has taken out the Best Street Art Tour award for the second year running with the popular Frankston City Street Art Tours.
The award winning guided tour takes people through Frankston streets and lanes, past dozens of murals by local, national and international artists.
The 90 minute tours were developed by the Council in 2018 and have become a highly rated attraction on Trip Advisor.
Cr Andrea Metcalf, mayor of Greater Bendigo, has been re-elected as Chair of Regional Cities Victoria at this week’s general meeting.
The new deputy chair is Cr Shane Sali, Mayor of Greater Shepparton.
Now for more local government news from around Australia.
The peak body for Australia’s growth councils has welcomed news of $750M in federal funding for priority local road and community infrastructure projects.
The National Growth Areas Alliance represents the fast growing outer urban councils around Australia, which are home to 5.3M people and growing nearly three times as fast as the rest of the country.
The Alliance says vital infrastructure to get people to work, study and home is lagging behind the population boom, and it applauds the “long overdue acknowledgement” of outer suburbs in the announcement made this week by federal minister Catherine King.
The South Australian Premier, Peter Malinauskas, says he will look at legislation to make sure there is no repeat of the campaign donation return fiasco that has seen 45 councillors, including three mayors, lose their positions this month.
Mr Malinauskas said he met with the Electoral Commissioner this week, who confirmed that in addition to receiving advice on 12 occasions, the elected members had received correspondence by registered mail reminding them of the obligation to submit a return within 30 days of the conclusion of the election.
He said all relevant council CEOs have now received advice from the Electoral Commissioner advising them of the names of affected members, and informing them that their office is now vacant.
Mr Malinauskas said he is deeply disappointed that so many members of councils and the councils themselves are at this juncture.
The City of Swan has reached a position on wards and representation, following a period of community consultation.
The council this week determined to reduce the number of councillors by one, from 15 to 14, and to make a number of ward boundary adjustments.
It has also decided that the election of the mayor will be by public vote from the next elections in October this year.
The Local Government Advisory Board will review the council’s proposal, with the local government minister to have the final say.
The sale of more than 30 blocks of land at bargain prices by Flinders Shire in Queensland has yielded a very exciting result, according to the shire’s mayor Jane McNamara.
Last month, the council announced the blocks would be put to auction with a reserve price of $9 plus housing grants of $5,000 to eligible participants.
The ABC reports that of the available 48 blocks, 34 sold at auction this week for between $5,500 and $20,000.
Cr McNamara said she hopes the auction will result in more homes being built in the shire.
The vexed issue of cat management is back in the news this week.
The ABC has a story on how councils are calling for an overhaul of state laws, which they say are hampering efforts to contain cats.
The call comes as a symposium in Perth this week hears from scientists about the loss of 340 million native animals to pet cats every year in Australia.
A local law to contain pet cats proposed by the city of Kwinana, south of Perth was recently overturned by a parliamentary committee for being inconsistent with state laws.
WA Local Government Minister John Carey told the ABC that the existing legislation was due for review next year.
Briefs:
Noosa CEO Scott Waters has unveiled an organisation realignment that has received the endorsement of councillors.
The new structure includes three additional roles at director, manager and coordinator level with a bottom line impact of $230k per annum. There will be no redundancies as a result of the realignment.
Meanwhile recruitment has commenced for three senior executive positions at Kiama Council in NSW as part of a restructure of that organisation.
The council is looking for a chief operating officer, director of infrastructure and liveability, and a director of planning, environment and communities.
Read more.
Rockhampton Regional Council has endorsed continued use of e-scooters in the city after a 12 month trial.
176,000 trips have been taken on the 300 Neuron e-scooters in use, by over 25,000 riders during the trial period.
Southeast Queensland Mayors have returned from a fact finding mission in Canada, where they were briefed on Vancouver’s plans to double bus services and add extra train lines and bikeways within a decade.
The group also visited Los Angeles, the Olympics host city for 2028, as part of its preparation for hosting the games in 2032.
Now for today’s International Spotlight:
To Canada firstly today, where the mayor of Toronto has announced he will step down at the end of the week, after revealing an affair with a staff member during the pandemic.
John Tory becomes the seventh Toronto mayor to resign while in office, although most of the others left to focus on running for or assuming another political office.
He has held the office for 8 years.
The deputy mayor will assume some of the mayoral responsibilities from Friday evening, ahead of the city council declaring the office vacant at its next meeting in March, at which time it will have to call for a by-election.
An update on the story we’ve been following from Austin, Texas, with city manager Spencer Cronk now out of a job after criticism of the management of a recent ice storm that hit the region particularly hard.
The city and its energy arm have come in for heavy criticism after thousands of people experienced power outages for up to 2 weeks.
The council has now decided, by a vote of 10 to 1, to terminate Mr Cronk’s employment, with a $463K severance package, and called in former city manager Jesus Garza to serve on an interim basis.
Mr Cronk had been in the position since 2018.
More on this story from Spectrum News 1.
In more city manager news, a council in California has this week voted to rehire the city manager it fired last year in a bid to head off a lawsuit.
The Central Valley Journalism Collaborative reports that Los Banos City Council will pay Josh Pinheiro $1.8M as part of the deal, along with a pay rise and tighter job security.
Two of the three council members to vote for his termination last year have now left the council, which voted 4-1 for the reinstatement this week.
The city of Amsterdam will ban the smoking of marijuana on the streets and work to discourage alcohol consumption in its red light district, in a bid to reduce nuisance activity.
The municipality said the neighbourhood is becoming unsafe and unliveable for residents, with a lot of nuisance from mass tourism, and alcohol and drug abuse on the street.
According to a CNN report, the city will require alcohol to be hidden from view or removed from stores after 4pm Thursdays to Sundays.
And finally to Essex in England, where a resident has won compensation from his local council after a complaint about noisy bin collectors.
The Mirror reports that an ombudsman ruled in favour of the resident due to the failure of Basildon Council to suitably investigate the complaint.
The resident complained about disturbed sleep, stress and inconvenience from noisy disturbances on three occasions in June 2021 between 4.30 and 5.30am.
The ombudsman said despite an initial attempt to address the issue, the problem persisted and there was a missed opportunity to review the evidence available.
The council has been ordered to pay the resident £300 for the inconvenience, frustration and stress caused by its mishandling of his complaint.
That’s the latest from the Roundup for the 17th February 2023.
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I’ll be back next week with more of the latest local government news.. Until then, thanks for listening, and bye for now.