❓ Mr. Cowper asks the Minister for Local Government about governance issues in the City of Albany. The Minister outlines concerns regarding the termination of the CEO, a petition for a special electors meeting, and a better practice review, requesting a written response from councillors.
AnsweredQoN 125Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
CITY OF ALBANY — GOVERNANCE ISSUES
I understand that the minister was down in the beautiful City of Albany yesterday to meet with elected members of the council and to take a leadership role to return good governance to the people of the city. Can the minister please advise what his concerns are and how he intends to deal with those issues? Several members interjected. Mr G.M. CASTRILLI
I understand that the minister was down in the beautiful City of Albany yesterday to meet with elected members of the council and to take a leadership role to return good governance to the people of the city. Can the minister please advise what his concerns are and how he intends to deal with those issues? Several members interjected. Mr G.M. CASTRILLI
AnswerView source ↗
Gee, Mr Speaker, what a mob of wafflers. This is a very serious issue, and a lot of concerns were raised by the community. I am very well aware of and very concerned about what is happening in Albany. It is essential that local governments function in a manner that is in accordance with the Local Government Act and that they have the respect and the confidence of the community. The termination of the city’s chief executive officer has raised community concerns down there, along with a lot of other things. The city has received a petition calling for a special meeting of electors. I arranged for my department to conduct a better practice review of the City of Albany, and that started two weeks ago. In February, I recommended that the council engage a mediator to assist the members to work through their challenging relationships, if I can put it that way, and to engage an experienced external town planner to review its town planning policies and also its practices. As I understand it, both matters will be subject to consideration at a meeting tonight. Last Wednesday I received some interim advice from my department on the better practice review. That advice highlighted to me a number of issues that primarily related to a lack of sound governance. A number of other issues relating to management were also raised. Those two matters are interrelated. As a result of that, I had an in-camera meeting with the elected members—that was held yesterday afternoon, as members are well aware—and I outlined to the members my specific concerns. I asked them to respond to me in writing by 30 April on how they propose to move forward and deal with the issues that I have raised. The councillors are in absolutely no doubt about my concerns and the options that are available to me. My desire is to work very closely with the councillors through those challenges, and the majority of the councillors indicated to me yesterday that they wanted to do so. I will be keeping a very close eye on the City of Albany, and I will await their response very eagerly.
Several members interjected. Mr G.M. CASTRILLI replied: Gee, Mr Speaker, what a mob of wafflers. This is a very serious issue, and a lot of concerns were raised by the community. I am very well aware of and very concerned about what is happening in Albany. It is essential that local governments function in a manner that is in accordance with the Local Government Act and that they have the respect and the confidence of the community. The termination of the city’s chief executive officer has raised community concerns down there, along with a lot of other things. The city has received a petition calling for a special meeting of electors. I arranged for my department to conduct a better practice review of the City of Albany, and that started two weeks ago. In February, I recommended that the council engage a mediator to assist the members to work through their challenging relationships, if I can put it that way, and to engage an experienced external town planner to review its town planning policies and also its practices. As I understand it, both matters will be subject to consideration at a meeting tonight. Last Wednesday I received some interim advice from my department on the better practice review. That advice highlighted to me a number of issues that primarily related to a lack of sound governance. A number of other issues relating to management were also raised. Those two matters are interrelated. As a result of that, I had an in-camera meeting with the elected members—that was held yesterday afternoon, as members are well aware—and I outlined to the members my specific concerns. I asked them to respond to me in writing by 30 April on how they propose to move forward and deal with the issues that I have raised. The councillors are in absolutely no doubt about my concerns and the options that are available to me. My desire is to work very closely with the councillors through those challenges, and the majority of the councillors indicated to me yesterday that they wanted to do so. I will be keeping a very close eye on the City of Albany, and I will await their response very eagerly.
Mr G.M. CASTRILLI replied: Gee, Mr Speaker, what a mob of wafflers. This is a very serious issue, and a lot of concerns were raised by the community. I am very well aware of and very concerned about what is happening in Albany. It is essential that local governments function in a manner that is in accordance with the Local Government Act and that they have the respect and the confidence of the community. The termination of the city’s chief executive officer has raised community concerns down there, along with a lot of other things. The city has received a petition calling for a special meeting of electors. I arranged for my department to conduct a better practice review of the City of Albany, and that started two weeks ago. In February, I recommended that the council engage a mediator to assist the members to work through their challenging relationships, if I can put it that way, and to engage an experienced external town planner to review its town planning policies and also its practices. As I understand it, both matters will be subject to consideration at a meeting tonight. Last Wednesday I received some interim advice from my department on the better practice review. That advice highlighted to me a number of issues that primarily related to a lack of sound governance. A number of other issues relating to management were also raised. Those two matters are interrelated. As a result of that, I had an in-camera meeting with the elected members—that was held yesterday afternoon, as members are well aware—and I outlined to the members my specific concerns. I asked them to respond to me in writing by 30 April on how they propose to move forward and deal with the issues that I have raised. The councillors are in absolutely no doubt about my concerns and the options that are available to me. My desire is to work very closely with the councillors through those challenges, and the majority of the councillors indicated to me yesterday that they wanted to do so. I will be keeping a very close eye on the City of Albany, and I will await their response very eagerly.
Gee, Mr Speaker, what a mob of wafflers. This is a very serious issue, and a lot of concerns were raised by the community. I am very well aware of and very concerned about what is happening in Albany. It is essential that local governments function in a manner that is in accordance with the Local Government Act and that they have the respect and the confidence of the community. The termination of the city’s chief executive officer has raised community concerns down there, along with a lot of other things. The city has received a petition calling for a special meeting of electors. I arranged for my department to conduct a better practice review of the City of Albany, and that started two weeks ago. In February, I recommended that the council engage a mediator to assist the members to work through their challenging relationships, if I can put it that way, and to engage an experienced external town planner to review its town planning policies and also its practices. As I understand it, both matters will be subject to consideration at a meeting tonight. Last Wednesday I received some interim advice from my department on the better practice review. That advice highlighted to me a number of issues that primarily related to a lack of sound governance. A number of other issues relating to management were also raised. Those two matters are interrelated. As a result of that, I had an in-camera meeting with the elected members—that was held yesterday afternoon, as members are well aware—and I outlined to the members my specific concerns. I asked them to respond to me in writing by 30 April on how they propose to move forward and deal with the issues that I have raised. The councillors are in absolutely no doubt about my concerns and the options that are available to me. My desire is to work very closely with the councillors through those challenges, and the majority of the councillors indicated to me yesterday that they wanted to do so. I will be keeping a very close eye on the City of Albany, and I will await their response very eagerly.
Last Wednesday I received some interim advice from my department on the better practice review. That advice highlighted to me a number of issues that primarily related to a lack of sound governance. A number of other issues relating to management were also raised. Those two matters are interrelated. As a result of that, I had an in-camera meeting with the elected members—that was held yesterday afternoon, as members are well aware—and I outlined to the members my specific concerns. I asked them to respond to me in writing by 30 April on how they propose to move forward and deal with the issues that I have raised. The councillors are in absolutely no doubt about my concerns and the options that are available to me. My desire is to work very closely with the councillors through those challenges, and the majority of the councillors indicated to me yesterday that they wanted to do so. I will be keeping a very close eye on the City of Albany, and I will await their response very eagerly.
Several members interjected. Mr G.M. CASTRILLI replied: Gee, Mr Speaker, what a mob of wafflers. This is a very serious issue, and a lot of concerns were raised by the community. I am very well aware of and very concerned about what is happening in Albany. It is essential that local governments function in a manner that is in accordance with the Local Government Act and that they have the respect and the confidence of the community. The termination of the city’s chief executive officer has raised community concerns down there, along with a lot of other things. The city has received a petition calling for a special meeting of electors. I arranged for my department to conduct a better practice review of the City of Albany, and that started two weeks ago. In February, I recommended that the council engage a mediator to assist the members to work through their challenging relationships, if I can put it that way, and to engage an experienced external town planner to review its town planning policies and also its practices. As I understand it, both matters will be subject to consideration at a meeting tonight. Last Wednesday I received some interim advice from my department on the better practice review. That advice highlighted to me a number of issues that primarily related to a lack of sound governance. A number of other issues relating to management were also raised. Those two matters are interrelated. As a result of that, I had an in-camera meeting with the elected members—that was held yesterday afternoon, as members are well aware—and I outlined to the members my specific concerns. I asked them to respond to me in writing by 30 April on how they propose to move forward and deal with the issues that I have raised. The councillors are in absolutely no doubt about my concerns and the options that are available to me. My desire is to work very closely with the councillors through those challenges, and the majority of the councillors indicated to me yesterday that they wanted to do so. I will be keeping a very close eye on the City of Albany, and I will await their response very eagerly.
Mr G.M. CASTRILLI replied: Gee, Mr Speaker, what a mob of wafflers. This is a very serious issue, and a lot of concerns were raised by the community. I am very well aware of and very concerned about what is happening in Albany. It is essential that local governments function in a manner that is in accordance with the Local Government Act and that they have the respect and the confidence of the community. The termination of the city’s chief executive officer has raised community concerns down there, along with a lot of other things. The city has received a petition calling for a special meeting of electors. I arranged for my department to conduct a better practice review of the City of Albany, and that started two weeks ago. In February, I recommended that the council engage a mediator to assist the members to work through their challenging relationships, if I can put it that way, and to engage an experienced external town planner to review its town planning policies and also its practices. As I understand it, both matters will be subject to consideration at a meeting tonight. Last Wednesday I received some interim advice from my department on the better practice review. That advice highlighted to me a number of issues that primarily related to a lack of sound governance. A number of other issues relating to management were also raised. Those two matters are interrelated. As a result of that, I had an in-camera meeting with the elected members—that was held yesterday afternoon, as members are well aware—and I outlined to the members my specific concerns. I asked them to respond to me in writing by 30 April on how they propose to move forward and deal with the issues that I have raised. The councillors are in absolutely no doubt about my concerns and the options that are available to me. My desire is to work very closely with the councillors through those challenges, and the majority of the councillors indicated to me yesterday that they wanted to do so. I will be keeping a very close eye on the City of Albany, and I will await their response very eagerly.
Gee, Mr Speaker, what a mob of wafflers. This is a very serious issue, and a lot of concerns were raised by the community. I am very well aware of and very concerned about what is happening in Albany. It is essential that local governments function in a manner that is in accordance with the Local Government Act and that they have the respect and the confidence of the community. The termination of the city’s chief executive officer has raised community concerns down there, along with a lot of other things. The city has received a petition calling for a special meeting of electors. I arranged for my department to conduct a better practice review of the City of Albany, and that started two weeks ago. In February, I recommended that the council engage a mediator to assist the members to work through their challenging relationships, if I can put it that way, and to engage an experienced external town planner to review its town planning policies and also its practices. As I understand it, both matters will be subject to consideration at a meeting tonight. Last Wednesday I received some interim advice from my department on the better practice review. That advice highlighted to me a number of issues that primarily related to a lack of sound governance. A number of other issues relating to management were also raised. Those two matters are interrelated. As a result of that, I had an in-camera meeting with the elected members—that was held yesterday afternoon, as members are well aware—and I outlined to the members my specific concerns. I asked them to respond to me in writing by 30 April on how they propose to move forward and deal with the issues that I have raised. The councillors are in absolutely no doubt about my concerns and the options that are available to me. My desire is to work very closely with the councillors through those challenges, and the majority of the councillors indicated to me yesterday that they wanted to do so. I will be keeping a very close eye on the City of Albany, and I will await their response very eagerly.
Last Wednesday I received some interim advice from my department on the better practice review. That advice highlighted to me a number of issues that primarily related to a lack of sound governance. A number of other issues relating to management were also raised. Those two matters are interrelated. As a result of that, I had an in-camera meeting with the elected members—that was held yesterday afternoon, as members are well aware—and I outlined to the members my specific concerns. I asked them to respond to me in writing by 30 April on how they propose to move forward and deal with the issues that I have raised. The councillors are in absolutely no doubt about my concerns and the options that are available to me. My desire is to work very closely with the councillors through those challenges, and the majority of the councillors indicated to me yesterday that they wanted to do so. I will be keeping a very close eye on the City of Albany, and I will await their response very eagerly.
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