Thursday, February 23, 2012

Glen Eira reforms continued

Here are a range of reforms primarily on council meeting procedures that I am presently advocating for -

- introduce a public question time along reasonable guidelines at the beginning of each council meeting, currently only written questions allowed.

- introduce notice of motion provisions as outlined in previous postings

- abolish Ward grants currently at $5k pa per ward spent at Crs discresion - these are seldom used and are a hangover from a previous era.

- publish on Glen Eira homepage recordings of council meetings

- also publish VCAT record on website with link to all VCAT decisions so residents, developers and objectors can see council's record on planning disputes.

4 comments:

  1. Now we're talking Councillor. Great start to getting more open and accountable council meetings. Congratulations and I wish you success. Also suggest that audio be improved as it is often difficult for the gallery to hear what is being said.

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  2. You didn't mention your push to get council meetings out of the court room atmosphere.

    Also what about the CEO contract, with a compulsory re-advertising of the position at the end of each contract period, that need to be reformed as well

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  3. Thanks anom, re CEO contract both options reappointment and advertising are allowed under State Govt legislation.

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  4. These are excellent reforms Neil.

    And I'd add a few more.

    1. Web-casting council meetings - it's really not very expensive.

    2. For members of the public who ask a question to have a right of response or ask a supplementary question. This is not about having a debate but might be used to clarify the response or simply to say whether they were satisfied or dissatisfied with the response.

    3. To have guidelines for how questions are answered. There are conditions set for how questions can be asked but no obligations on council regarding the answer.

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