WE HAVE written to our Strzelecki Ward Councillors with requests to move three Notices of Motion as follows:
1. To restore a genuinely open and transparent council question time at council meetings.
2. To seek a report from CEO on ways of reducing costs in order to freezing rates for the remainder of your term
3. To take a commercial approach to running of Coal Creek including appropriate investment etc.
To fulfill the principle as voiced and emphasised in Council’s own plan to be open, transparent, and accountable. One may think as obvious steps to start to restore confidence in Council. Our current Council according to the impartial State Government
Customer Satisfaction Survey is the worst performing Council on key performance indicators over the past 13 years.
The increasing impression in the community is that our Councillors incorrectly believe that their role is to protect Council, rather than represent the community and their issues and concerns. The Local Government Act is clear that elected Councillors are to listen and represent community concerns.
Councils performance on the State Government Customer Satisfaction Survey key indicators has dropped by four per cent since last year and is lower than all preceding Councils back to 2012-16 Council.
There is a real opportunity for our Ward councillors to display some real leadership and start to genuinely listen to their community and respond to our concerns. To start to turnaround their poor and declining performance. Moving a notice of motion to restore open question time would have wide support and praise. Genuinely considering how to achieve a rates freeze and genuinely taking a commercial approach to Coal Creek operations would be a real step forward. We have extended to our Ward Councillors our desire to collaborate with them for the betterment of our respective communities. Together we can be stronger.
Andrew McEwen, co-coordinator Strzelecki Ward Citizens Assembly
