Why we should encourage MLAs to venture beyond Civic Square

John Hargreaves said :

These Councils are a joke.

This may have been true of some councils at some times.

Why not decide for yourself?
Go to http://www.northcanberra.org.au/ and view the videos of recent presentations (and Q&A sessions) by:

* Shane Rattenbury (Haig Park, Sullivan’s Creek, Canberra City Farm, Lyneham Food Forest, Dickson shops, Lyneham neighbourhood oval, Minister’s call-in powers, road classification, greenhouse impacts of light rail, age friendly suburbs, nature strips)

* Roads ACT (Active travel improvements along the light rail corridor)

* Economic Development Directorate (Dickson intersection upgrades)

* Steve Doszpot

I assume their pay will drop due to the extra numbers and lighter work load ? Not.

Kim Fischer said :

Thank you everyone for your responses. Having worked in the Assembly and been active on community councils, I wanted to throw some ideas in the mix on how we can strengthen our local democracy.

When writing the post, I was thinking about Local Government “councils” that are more accurately representative of the community as votes are widespread and ballots are normally conducted by an electoral commission. These councils have a clear mandate and transparent funding arrangements.

By comparison, community council meetings average less than 40 attendees, annual reports and budgets are not readily available, and few mechanisms of transparency and accountability exist.

We know the fact they are called “councils” confuses residents from time to time. I think we should either consider calling them “forums”, or else bolster their role through an expanded mandate and clearer roles and accountabilities.

If we are serious about the idea of community councils as councils, why not seek entry into the Australian Local Government Association (ALGA)? ALGA could be an added voice when lobbying for Federal funding for local projects. (The ACT government is not a member of ALGA.)

As for access to MLAs, it is true that we might see them at community functions or hear them on radio, but it is harder than it should be to arrange appointments to discuss private matters (like on Housing or Disability Services) at length.

Nobody is stating we should be serious about having community councils act as councils. Nobody is suggesting we decouple the ACT Government’s service delivery and create a Mayor McCheese in each town centre.

If you are wanting a discussion about the name “council”, fine; we in Belconnen have considered the move to “forum”, yet the ACT Government (which provides a small amount of funding for our operations) expects us to use “community council”. I’d happily support a change in title.

(The ACT Government used to send a representative to the ALGA – a public servant, not an elected rep – yet I don’t know when that arrangement seemingly stopped. The ACT Government probably perceived no benefit from it.)

John Hargreaves said :

Matt Watts said :

(I should declare that I am Deputy Chair of the Belconnen Community Council, and I am expressing my own views in this post.)

I am more than happy with the sentiment that MLAs should get into the community more often. I know Kim, who is a lovely person, although I strongly disagree with the notion that MLAs can run their own meetings as a *replacement* to Community Councils; to suggest as such is a surprisingly naïve proposition.

1. Even if they are an independent, each MLA is inherently political. Community Councils are invariably run by people who have a range of differing views, so they are more likely to arrange meetings in a bipartisan manner (or suffer the community’s wrath).

2. The boundaries of Community Councils do not always align with the electoral boundaries. Belconnen, for example, will be split between Yerrabi and Ginninderra electorates yet the residents of Kaleen have just as much of a vested interest in the Belconnen Town Centre as those who live in Page. Community Councils can give a voice to the *community* rather than the electorate (which is what MLAs do).

3. MLAs shouldn’t be rostered to any schedule. They live and die (politically) by the suburbs they visit, but we don’t know who we’ll end up with, and some might be lazy. Community Councils hold regular meetings despite the quality of local MLAs.

4. MLAs can attend as many community meetings as they wish. When they attend the Belconnen Community Council meetings, they are generally entitled to give an update if they wish. If MLAs want to be the focus of the meeting, they can organize their own meetings (and some do).

5. MLAs are rarely impartial experts in matters of public interest. Community Councils are able to invite experts to their meetings. The idea of arranging something like the head of the NCA to attend a meeting in each Canberra suburb is not going to be a realistic proposition, so there is clearly a need to retain Community Councils.

I am happy to hear the discussion, yet I am disappointed that the desire to seek greater MLA community engagement has somehow been conflated with the separate issue of Community Councils. The Belconnen Community Council has never been stronger, and I doubt the community would want to rely on the proposals floated in the original post as a replacement of the apolitical work we’re doing.

From my experience Matt, Councils are sub branches of political parties. have a look at who the presidents are of each Council and tell me I’m wrong…

Actually, I can think of some chairs/ presidents who aren’t in political parties. Nonetheless, the chair is merely one member of the executive. Yes, a number of people on the executive are openly members of political parties (such as myself) yet that is hardly unusual given community councils’ topics of interest, and the Belconnen Community Council executive includes a range of political ideologies. As I stated, most community councils act in a bipartisan manner.

Put your money where your mouth is, John, and tell me how these organisations are sub-branches of political parties.

John Hargreaves said :

Leon said :

Some MLAs DO make the effort to get out and talk their electors. The North Canberra Community Council recently hosted Shane Rattenbury and Simon Corbell. MLAs who have agreed to address our forthcoming public meetings are:

Meegan Fitzharris, July 21
Alistair Coe, August 18
Jeremy Hanson, September 15
Andrew Barr, October 20

For more information, visit http://www.northcanberra.org.au/about/meeting-schedule/

attending a meeting with only three to five real punters is not really communicating with the electorate. Community Council meetings are usually stacked with the Executive and their followers, MLAs and their sycophants, invited people who give reports and their helpers and three to five interested members of the public.

These Councils are a joke.

Well, John, I’m certainly aware of one MLA who once stacked a meeting against me yet I assure you that isn’t the norm in Belconnen. I can’t speak for other community councils yet, as I said, the Belconnen Community Council has never been stronger. The other factor to consider is the use of email and social media, which has expanded our reach to people who would otherwise be too busy to attend meetings.

What annoys me is that we even have to ask this question, which only goes to show how amazingly over-governed in the ACT.

I am still waiting for any justification from our current MLA’s on why there is a need to increase the numbers. If they were doing their job right we would not need groups like the Belconnen Community Council or Northern Canberra Community Council.

Thank you everyone for your responses. Having worked in the Assembly and been active on community councils, I wanted to throw some ideas in the mix on how we can strengthen our local democracy.

When writing the post, I was thinking about Local Government “councils” that are more accurately representative of the community as votes are widespread and ballots are normally conducted by an electoral commission. These councils have a clear mandate and transparent funding arrangements.

By comparison, community council meetings average less than 40 attendees, annual reports and budgets are not readily available, and few mechanisms of transparency and accountability exist.

We know the fact they are called “councils” confuses residents from time to time. I think we should either consider calling them “forums”, or else bolster their role through an expanded mandate and clearer roles and accountabilities.

If we are serious about the idea of community councils as councils, why not seek entry into the Australian Local Government Association (ALGA)? ALGA could be an added voice when lobbying for Federal funding for local projects. (The ACT government is not a member of ALGA.)

As for access to MLAs, it is true that we might see them at community functions or hear them on radio, but it is harder than it should be to arrange appointments to discuss private matters (like on Housing or Disability Services) at length.

Richard Fox said :

With the new electorates generally based around the Community Councils’ geographic areas, I think it will become essential for all MLAs representing that region to attend.

The new electorates should increase the local angle, if an MLA isn’t visible in their area, people will notice. It should also promote the idea that locals should run for their home electorate, rather than live in Tuggeranong and represent Yerrabi, for example.

look what happened to the Greens last time – Bresnan lived in Molonglo, represented Brindabella; Hunter lived in Molonglo, represented Ginninderra.

Matt Watts said :

(I should declare that I am Deputy Chair of the Belconnen Community Council, and I am expressing my own views in this post.)

I am more than happy with the sentiment that MLAs should get into the community more often. I know Kim, who is a lovely person, although I strongly disagree with the notion that MLAs can run their own meetings as a *replacement* to Community Councils; to suggest as such is a surprisingly naïve proposition.

1. Even if they are an independent, each MLA is inherently political. Community Councils are invariably run by people who have a range of differing views, so they are more likely to arrange meetings in a bipartisan manner (or suffer the community’s wrath).

2. The boundaries of Community Councils do not always align with the electoral boundaries. Belconnen, for example, will be split between Yerrabi and Ginninderra electorates yet the residents of Kaleen have just as much of a vested interest in the Belconnen Town Centre as those who live in Page. Community Councils can give a voice to the *community* rather than the electorate (which is what MLAs do).

3. MLAs shouldn’t be rostered to any schedule. They live and die (politically) by the suburbs they visit, but we don’t know who we’ll end up with, and some might be lazy. Community Councils hold regular meetings despite the quality of local MLAs.

4. MLAs can attend as many community meetings as they wish. When they attend the Belconnen Community Council meetings, they are generally entitled to give an update if they wish. If MLAs want to be the focus of the meeting, they can organize their own meetings (and some do).

5. MLAs are rarely impartial experts in matters of public interest. Community Councils are able to invite experts to their meetings. The idea of arranging something like the head of the NCA to attend a meeting in each Canberra suburb is not going to be a realistic proposition, so there is clearly a need to retain Community Councils.

I am happy to hear the discussion, yet I am disappointed that the desire to seek greater MLA community engagement has somehow been conflated with the separate issue of Community Councils. The Belconnen Community Council has never been stronger, and I doubt the community would want to rely on the proposals floated in the original post as a replacement of the apolitical work we’re doing.

From my experience Matt, Councils are sub branches of political parties. have a look at who the presidents are of each Council and tell me I’m wrong…

Leon said :

Some MLAs DO make the effort to get out and talk their electors. The North Canberra Community Council recently hosted Shane Rattenbury and Simon Corbell. MLAs who have agreed to address our forthcoming public meetings are:

Meegan Fitzharris, July 21
Alistair Coe, August 18
Jeremy Hanson, September 15
Andrew Barr, October 20

For more information, visit http://www.northcanberra.org.au/about/meeting-schedule/

attending a meeting with only three to five real punters is not really communicating with the electorate. Community Council meetings are usually stacked with the Executive and their followers, MLAs and their sycophants, invited people who give reports and their helpers and three to five interested members of the public.

These Councils are a joke.