Hannah Hammoud
A Brimbank councillor wants council to establish a regular public forum to allow the community to ask live, unscripted questions of council.
Councillor Maria Kerr will raise the idea as a notice of motion during Tuesday’s council meeting.
Cr Kerr said introducing a regular public forum would promote “transparency” and allow the community to hold representatives to account.
“It’s now up to each individual councillor to decide if they support transparency and accountability,” she said.
“I would be happy to put myself in front of any resident and answer any questions they might have.”
Cr Kerr said she has been overwhelmed by the amount of support she has received from the community in regards to the motion.
“The reason why I’m putting up this motion is because I want to give the community a voice and I myself want to put myself forward to be scrutinised,” she said.
“This forum is for the community to hold us to account because at the end of the day they pay our wage.”
Cr Kerr said Monee Valley council hosts a public forum once a month.
The Moonee Valley council website states that the public forums take place in a less formal setting than council meetings and provide another opportunity for residents to play a role in civic matters.
Moonee Valley council allows residents to raise questions directly and without notice, unlike council meetings where questions must be submitted beforehand and are read aloud by council on behalf of the resident.
At the previous Brimbank council meeting held on June 20, the meeting was adjourned for 15 minutes as multiple residents seated in the public gallery continued to shout in protest of the draft LGBTQIA+ Action Plan.
Cr Kerr said there is currently no mechanism which allows residents to directly engage with council representatives.
“People are frustrated and upset. The community isn’t able to ask us questions directly and we also aren’t able to answer their questions … this isn’t in the spirit of democracy,” she said.
