Childcare fees reduced

At the last Council meeting for the year-Dec 13-the following motion was passed unaminously. This was in response to a report I had requested in September for details of fees charged by surrounding councils and other providers in the municipality.

Even though some providers are yet to set fees enough data provided to Crs confirmed that Glen Eira was at the very high end on both accounts. This is a good outcome though to be frank Council should never have increased fees so early (June) or so high initially. Childcare will continue to be a challenging issue for Council!

In part B there are criteria that should be used when considering any future fee rises

URGENT BUSINESS
Crs Pilling/Tang
That a matter concerning Child Care fees be considered as an item of Urgent
Business.
The MOTION was put and CARRIED unanimously.

(a) Child Care Fees
Crs Pilling/Tang
(a) That Council acknowledges the new staff/child ratios in childcare
centres commencing in Jan 2012 whilst improving quality of care will bring increased costs for both parents and childcare providers.
(b) That Council in determining appropriate long daycare fees considers the following criteria: cost to parents, costs to Council, the median fee range as charged by childcare providers in the municipality.
(c) That Council set from 1 January 2012 the following fee schedule for long day care at its three centres at 0-2yo $106 per day; 3-5yo $85 per day.
(d) That Council provides prompt notice of the fee changes to all participating families.
(e) That Council will continue to review childcare fees as part of its annual budget process.
The MOTION was put and CARRIED unanimously

GESAC - basketball - decision

Here is the final motion passed by Council on Wednesday night - Please see my comments after for further explanation; full details including the preceding report are available in the links- GESAC basketball decision- opposite lower right -starts at page 127 of minutes-use search option at top
Sat 17.12 9.30am Please note have withdrawn prev comment on Cr. Esakoff's voting reason.

Crs Hyams/Lipshutz
That Council
1. Note that:
(a) As the result of a fair and proper Expression of Interest (EoI)
process, the use of the GESAC indoor courts for basketball was allocated to the Warriors;

(b) In the interests of maximising the use of the GESAC indoor courts
by the community, Council's preferred position is that the basketball allocation be shared between the Warriors and the McKinnon Basketball Association (MBA); and

(c) Notwithstanding the allocation referred to in (a), the Warriors have indicated a willingness to share that allocation with the MBA.

2. Allocate the use of the GESAC indoor courts to the Warriors on Fridays from 6pm to 11pm and Sundays from 9am to 11pm.

3. Allocate the use of the GESAC indoor courts to the MBA on Saturdays from 8am to 11pm subject to the MBA agreeing by January 15 2012 to provide two alternative basketball courts to the Warriors from 8am to 7pm on Saturdays to the reasonable satisfaction of the Warriors, or, if such agreement is not reached, or observed, allocate the GESAC indoor courts to the Warriors on Saturdays from 8am to 7pm.

4. In all other respects, apply the terms and conditions of the allocation referred to in 1(a) to the use of the courts by the Warriors and,if applicable, to the MBA.

5. Authorise officers to give effect to this resolution.
6. Incorporate this resolution and this report in the public Minutes of this Meeting apart from Council's legal advice at section 3.4 of this report and in the attachments.

DIVISION
Cr Magee called for a Division on voting of the SUBSTANTIVE MOTION
FOR
Cr Tang
Cr Hyams
Cr Lipshutz
Cr Forge
AGAINST
Cr Magee
Cr Penhalluriack
Cr Pilling
Cr Esakoff

The SUBSTANTIVE MOTION was put and CARRIED on the casting Vote of the Chairperson (Mayor Cr. Hyams)

Comment - Only a sucessful motion is recorded according to minutes guidelines. This means that motions voted down including those that myself and Cr.Magee had proposed (see Dec 10 post) are not recorded- We certainly did our best in this regard.

This is a very disappointing decision and a motion that I could not support as it effectively in my view hands the allocation to the Warriors and relies on their benevolance in accommodating the McKinnon Basketball Assoc, a situation that I can't see happenning.

As such there will be over 1400 players and families not participating at GESAC this year. This allocation is for twelve months - There needs to be a far better process in place next year to prevent this unfortunate situation occurring again

New Mayor of Glen Eira elected

Last night Wednesday the 14th December Cr. Jamie Hyams was elected the new Mayor of Glen Eira for the next twelve months.

I congratulate Cr. Hyams on his appointment and wish him all the best for the coming year. He has certainly demonstrated a real passion and commitment to local govt with a knowledge second to none of processes and legalities- a very deserving and well earned appointment.

All Councillors in their Mayoral welcome speeches acknowledged the outstanding effort and contribution of the outgoing Mayor, Cr Margaret Esakoff.

I was fortunate and appreciative to be elected Deputy Mayor.

GESAC - basketball-cont.

I will post details of the motion passed and comments re item 12.8 GESAC Multi-Use Courts that involves the allocation of basketball as soon as publically available which normally takes several days.

Council considered the issue over the the past two nights after reaching the 11pm time limit at the Tuesday night meeting.

The main problem in my view has been the design and oblectives of the original process. I feel the emphasis was too much on fees and 'future marketing plans'.

I have no critisism of the way officers administered the expression of interest process but question the criteria and objectives that have led everyone to the present situation.

Like the increased childcare fee issue I feel Council has taken a too narrow economic rationalist approach at the expense of genuine community need. This really goes to the heart of the matter. There is certainly a need to review the whole process for future basketball allocations at GESAC in the new year.

please note- the posting date can be a day behind.

GESAC - basketball - last night

At tonight's Council meeting (Tues Dec 13) item 12.8 GESAC Multi-Use Courts was considered by council in the in-camera (confidential) section of the meeting.

I would have liked the item considered in the public section of the meeting but accepted that on further advice this would be difficult to do without compromising the integrity (the separation of the legal and contractual elements) of the item and any subsequent decision.

Both Cr. Magee and myself explained this to the many in the gallery and thanked everyone for attending and taking an interest on this important issue.

The outcome of this item will be made public soon.

GESAC-new community basketball facilities- ensuring access for all local families and clubs

As reported widely and here in previous postings there has been an ongoing issue throughout the past six months of resolving the weekend allocation usage at our great new indoor court facilities at the soon to be opened Glen Eira Sports and Aquatic Centre(GESAC) in Bentleigh.

This wonderful new $45m community facility,the largest ever built in the municipality, was primarily funded by local ratepayers with significant contributions from both the Federal and State govts. The original expression of interest offer to the Oakleigh Warriors effectively meant that in excess of 1400 local players in the Mckinnon Basketball Assoc would not be playing this season at GESAC- this situation I have consistantly stated is unacceptable.

This Tuesday night in confidential item 12.8 GESAC MULTI-USE COURTS of the Council meeting agenda I will be supporting the following proposed alternative motion and would like to see this item moved into the normal public agenda.

1.That council notes the report
2.That council sets the seasonal hire rate for basketball at GESAC at $40.00 per court per hour.
3.That council awards the Friday tenancy (6pm to 11pm) and Sunday (9am to 11pm) to The Oakleigh Garden State Warriors Basketball Association.
4.That council awards the Saturday (8am to 11pm) tenancy to the McKinnon Basketball Association.
5.That all court fees are payable regardless of court use.
6.That council requires a bond of $10,000.00 per court payable on signing of the lease agreement.
7.That if either association is unable to fill its allocated times, it must first offer that time to the other before it can be offered to any other association, body or individual.
8.That this resolution be incorporated in the public minutes of this meeting. (if in camera)

Will also support a division (a recording of how Councillors vote) on this item.

This is an equitable,reasonable and balanced proposal that caters for both associations and allows for all local kids, families and clubs to use our great new facilities at GESAC. It sensibly balances financial and community responsibilties.

I will be encouraging all Councillors to support this motion .

Womens Charter - improving participation in Local Govt

With local govt elections due next year in Glen Eira I feel it is important that our Council encourages the participation and engagement of women from our community at all levels particularly as Councllors.

The Women’s Charter Project is an important initiative that promotes ideas, action plans and models to further this participation. Full details on links bottom right.

Along with the 62 other Councils in Victoria I will be advocating that Glen Eira also adopts and endorses this charter.

from the latest Municipal Assoc Vic (MAV) bulletin
"The Women’s Participation in Local Government Coalition (WPILGC) has launched its latest tool Closing the Gender Gap – principles, commitments, actions. It provides a list of councils that have endorsed the Women’s Charter, as well as ideas for councils to adopt, examples of 3x3 Action Plans and proposed statewide benchmarks.

The report, the result of the Women’s Charter 2010 Project funded by the Victorian Government and auspiced by the MAV, is one of a number of tools developed to assist councils to increase women’s participation. Other tools include a checklist of actions that can be undertaken for each of the three Women’s Charter principles. To date, 62 councils have endorsed the Women’s Charter principles of gender equity, diversity and active citizenship.

There is still time for more councils to adopt the Charter in the lead up to the local government elections due to be held in 2012."