All rise – the mayor is in the room

The State Government has flagged changes to the way council meetings will be conducted, saying it wants to ensure greater transparency and to increase community confidence in council decision making.

Local Government Minister Ron Hoenig this week released a draft of amendments to the Model Meeting Code for public comment.

The changes aim to simplify the Code, increase the dignity of the council chamber and ensure councillors are making decisions in the full view of the communities they are elected to represent.

Councillors would be required to stand when the mayor enters and when addressing the meeting.

Mayoral powers would be expanded so they could expel councillors from meetings for acts of disorder.

Other key changes include: preventing councils from holding private councillor briefing sessions; requiring information considered at closed meetings to be made public after it ceases to be confidential; and requiring councils to give reasons when making decisions on planning matters that depart from staff recommendations.

The proposals also aim to de-politicise the role of general managers/CEOs by removing the requirement for them to prepare reports on councillors’ notices of motion.

“Council meetings are where a council’s most important decisions should be made,” Hoenig said.

“It concerns me that these decisions are increasingly being made behind closed doors in private briefings, locking out the community and protecting councils from public scrutiny.

“As a former mayor, I want to see all councils conducting their business in an open and public forum, where communities can engage with their council on issues that directly affect them.

“The current Model Meeting Code has become unwieldy and is prone to drawing the general manager into political disputes which should be left to elected councillors to resolve.

“These changes are part of the government’s commitment to restore public trust in local government which has been eroded by years of neglect and a cultural shift towards secrecy over public service.”

Go to the government website for details on making a submission: https://www.olg.nsw.gov.au/councils/governance/model-code-of-meeting-practice/reforms-to-the-model-code-of-meeting-practice/