Council Reporting & Accountability

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCicow2LcCCoiO6UIcWEGg3Q

A ratepayer has asked how she might find out “verbatim” what was discussed at a council meeting like you can for parliament in Hansard. In Launceston asking such a question causes one to giggle because it is possible theoretically but not really. Council is getting better at social media but those who know their way around social media sites will tell you that mostly Launceston council uses social media to deliver spin and divert attention from contentious issues.

Council minutes are long and detailed – well bureaucratically detailed. However, if your not familiar with the in-house processes they are quite opaque and especially so all too often when an issue is contested. In any event by the time contentious issues gets to the table for open discussion the potential outcomes have been cut and dried well away from the table. Sure the motions are gone through but it is worth remembering that there is not much point a bureaucratic-cynic going to a meeting without she/he knowing the outcome on the way in.

In jurisdictions interstate all meetings held under the auspices of a council – subcommittees, advisory committees etc. – are required to make their minutes available upon request of a resident or ratepayer. One ratepayer reports being laughed at when making a request for records of such meetings.

Therefore council minutes are the place you go if you have a lot of time on your hands  and are willing to apply for a right-to-information. Its often heard that aldermen rarely read them or agendas in any kind of detail – some have been known to boast about not reading them as that’s the GM’s job. Against this background it would be interesting if aldermen were to do a report card on themselves where they tell their constituency just what they have achieved and on what matters they have made a significant contribution. People are generally very good at writing their own report cards.

As for the streaming of the discussions around the table at regular meetings there is much to be done in regard to the quality of presentation. Firstly these speakers around the table are regularly inaudible or barely audible. Then speakers from the floor are very poorly recorded and the sound quality of their comments are somewhere between poor and indifferent. In 217 this should be unacceptable given that the technology for correcting all this is relatively simple and quite affordable. Council has the resources to do the job but apparently the will is not there.

If people turn away and give up in frustration it is both understandable and unacceptable.   It might even be the outcome council has designed. Likewise if people fail to turn out for public meetings it is understandable when they are treated with indifference and quite often distain. It’s unlikely that there will be a champion for the accountability cause around the table as it seems everyone there “likes things just as they are thank you very much” and as for accountability it seems that is discretionary anyway.

WHAT TO DO NOW THAT AN ELECTION IS JUST A YEAR AWAY

Ratepayer and residents should:

1. Tune in to meetings online and if they have an issue write to the Mayor, GM & Aldermen;
2. Encourage others to listen to meetings online and report their level of satisfaction to the Mayor, GM & Aldermen;
3. Write to Aldermen asking them to provide a personal self assessment of their performance and achievements;
4. Canvass people in their network asking them to be more active in their engagement with council; AND
5. Be proactive in holding Aldermen and officers accountable for the provision of the services they pay rates for.