The public should be able to access the daily schedule and diary of future mayors of Brimbank.
This was one idea thrown up at a community forum in Sunshine last Thursday night as residents and council administrators put forward suggestions about reforms to the Local Government Act.
New Sunshine resident and council election candidate Kwabena Ansah said an online mayoral diary, with details of the mayor’s daily meetings and topics of discussion, should be part of any modern council.
“I’m quite big on transparency; people expect that of their officials. That needs to start at the council level,” he said. “After the [events] that led Brimbank into administration, we need to mitigate against any potential influence in the mayoral position.
“[However], we do not want to mistakenly create a law that discloses sensitive information about a mayor’s personal and private movements,” Mr Ansah said.
He also called for more council documents to be written in “common, core languages”, apart from English.
Chairman of administrators John Watson suggested a streamlined voting process, which would cut down on “big fields” of candidates to remove the prospect of ‘dummies’ standing.
He said residents should only have to choose between a small field of candidates to avoid “manipulation” of the preference system.
“It cuts to the chase,” he said. “Because of big fields, the wrong person can be elected.”
A key finding of an Ombudman’s report into previous Brimbank councils revealed some councillors worked for state parliamentarians. “Of all the councils in Victoria, Brimbank is probably responsible for more of that complication [with conflicts of interest],” Mr Watson said. “I’m concerned history will repeat itself.”
Conflicts of interest will also be more clearly defined under revisions under way to the Local Government Act. Minister Natalie Hutchins said further council amalgamations were not part of the present review.
Input to the review can be made directly at www.yourcouncilyourcommunity.vic.gov.au
