Council meeting 27/9/2011

The Council meeting on Tuesday night went swimmingly. I suspect I will not always be able to say that.

The election of councillors to committees went fairly smoothly, with only one vote required. That was for the third position on the General Managers Performance Review Committee. I supported Cr Murray over Cr Rankin merely because of the experience of Cr Murray.

One other minor hiccup occurred with the election of a Council delegate to the Killalea State Park Trust. I had been chosen by the other councillors but a last minute letter from the Minister saw a deferral of this item. The contents of the Minister’s communication is unknown to the councillors at this stage but I am confident all will be revealed in the fullness of time. Those more cynical than myself might consider it has something to do with Council proposing to appoint a member of the Save Killalea Alliance to this position. After all, the Department has a history in this matter. Cr Ben van der Wijngaart from Kiama was removed from the Board because of his association with the Alliance. Watch this space.

Council also determined the fees payable to Councillors and the Mayor. The Councillor fee was set at a rate roughly equal to the rate paid to the previous Councillors, adjusted for CPI increases. This brought it in at just over $16,000pa. Interestingly enough, I looked at most of the Councils in the Departments Regional/Rural list. These Councils roughly align with Shellharbour, in population and budget. I did not find any other Council with such a small number of Councillors . All that I looked at had between nine and thirteen Councillors. The small numbers are what have led me to serving on eight different committees.

A tender to operate waste management/recycling services at Dunmore tip was determined, with one part of the contract being given to Mission Australia and the remainder of the tasks being performed by Council staff. Mission Australia are an entirely worthy organisation who provide employment to a large number of Aboriginal people. Sadly the unsuccessful tenderer (Great Lakes Community Resources) also works with the marginalised, ie refugees. Apparently there is an unemployment rate approaching 90% among this group. I hope that in the future Council can find some way to work with both of these organisations.

By the way, there is a briefing on Shell Cove, open to the public, next Tuesday, 6.30pm at Lamerton House. See you all there.

Off to a good start

I attended a meeting on Friday with five of the other six councillors. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss with each other our areas of interest in relation to Council’s committees and working parties. There are forty-five such appointments across thirty committees. These are to be divided up between the seven councillors so it makes sense to ensure that we are appointed to committees that interest and engage us. It also made sense not to have to do it at the Council meeting, thus ensuring the public did not have to sit through the discussions and life stories which informed our choices.

What was gratifying was that everyone worked in such a co-operative fashion. The three ALP councillors, two independents and one Liberal all bent over backwards to ensure that everyone had a fair crack at every position. The more high profile positions were shared about and I have the impression that everyone walked away from the meeting satisfied.

It was unfortunate that Clr Rankin was unable to attend. He will find it especially unfortunate when he realises he has been nominated for everything no one else wanted or was able to accept. Enjoy your twenty-seven committees Paul!

This was not caucusing in action. No decisions were taken. Nothing is firm. It was merely an indicative process that allows the business of the Council to be conducted in a timely fashion when we meet on Tuesday evening. 

Welcome to Council

What a couple of weeks! I was elected to Council in sixth spot and have not stopped learning since.

The weekend following the election we new councillors had 2 full days (9am - 4pm) of inductions/training. This weekend we have had another full day on Saturday. In October we have 4 full days lined up. There are numerous evening briefing sessions marked in the calendar. It's all go, go, go.

The Council has also met to choose its Mayor and Deputy Mayor. These decisions presented me with some real difficulties, some hard questions. For instance, could I, as a 'greenie' support a Liberal candidate for Mayor over a Labor candidate? This decision became easier once I spoke to the two candidates and put things into a historical perspective.

Kellie Marsh is not an old time Liberal. Traditional Liberals believe in low taxes (or rates), few services and a devil-take-the-hindmost attitude. Kellie is not in this mould. She is employed, and volunteers, in the area of youth disadvantage. She spends most of her time supporting, for little or no pay, the most vulnerable members of our community.

Marianne Saliba is not old time Labor. When I used to be a member of the ALP, people gained office through their works in the community - either through working in blue collar jobs or volunteering in their field of interest. Marianne has worked as an electorate officer to a Labor politician and has been supported by Sussex St (via the N40 rule) into Parliament. Her campaign manager for Council was David Hamilton.

I was told by an impeccable 'inside' source that if I did not support Cr Saliba for Mayor, the ALP would not stand a candidate for Deputy Mayor. This was apparently an attempt to scare me into voting for the ALP as that was the only way I would have my preferred outcome of the two top positions on Council being filled by the major Parties. This information actually reinforced my view of the ALP. The all-or-nothing attitude is something that I find quite unattractive.

Once I had decided that I would support Cr Marsh for Mayor, I allowed my name to go forward for Deputy Mayor. If the ALP did not want that job, I did not want the Liberals to have both top positions. Once Cr Saliba's nomination for Deputy was read out, I was always going to support her even though I had the numbers. The outcome of both Labor and Liberal in the top jobs is an ideal outcome for the community, in my opinion.

Now it is up to we Councillors to make it work.