❓ Question concerns alleged misconduct and mismanagement within the City of Albany council, focusing on the Minister's actions (or lack thereof) in response to these claims. The Minister's answer defends the actions taken and emphasizes the council's responsibility.
AnsweredQoN 3486Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
In relation to a request by the City of Albany for a ministerial inquiry, I ask:
(a) did the Minister take any action to investigate repeated claims that information supplied to the standards panel by former Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Paul Richards, and Mr Robert Fenn was false and misleading; and
(i) if not, why not;
(b) did the Minister allow the panel to proceed in the knowledge that such serious doubts had been advised as to the validity of this information;
(c) did the Minister’s chief of staff, Mr Garry Brennan, give advice to Deputy Mayor Wellington on the drafting of a notice of motion (or any related matter) which called upon the Minister to enquire into the inappropriate, recalcitrant and threatening behaviour of some elected members; and
(i) if so, when did the Minister become aware of this;
(d) did the Minister’s chief of staff, Mr Garry Brennan, deny councillors an opportunity to meet him in private in relation to this matter; and
(i) if so, why;
(e) why did the Minister instigate a best practice review into the planning department when the Council request was for an inquiry into the threatening and inappropriate behaviour by some councillors;
(f) did the Minister investigate claims that Council had acted negligently by paying out the former CEO and blaming minority councillors for his dismissal; and
(i) if not, why not; and
(g) when will the Minister undertake an inquiry into these matters as requested by the special electors’ meeting held on 13 May 2010?
(a) did the Minister take any action to investigate repeated claims that information supplied to the standards panel by former Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Paul Richards, and Mr Robert Fenn was false and misleading; and
(i) if not, why not;
(b) did the Minister allow the panel to proceed in the knowledge that such serious doubts had been advised as to the validity of this information;
(c) did the Minister’s chief of staff, Mr Garry Brennan, give advice to Deputy Mayor Wellington on the drafting of a notice of motion (or any related matter) which called upon the Minister to enquire into the inappropriate, recalcitrant and threatening behaviour of some elected members; and
(i) if so, when did the Minister become aware of this;
(d) did the Minister’s chief of staff, Mr Garry Brennan, deny councillors an opportunity to meet him in private in relation to this matter; and
(i) if so, why;
(e) why did the Minister instigate a best practice review into the planning department when the Council request was for an inquiry into the threatening and inappropriate behaviour by some councillors;
(f) did the Minister investigate claims that Council had acted negligently by paying out the former CEO and blaming minority councillors for his dismissal; and
(i) if not, why not; and
(g) when will the Minister undertake an inquiry into these matters as requested by the special electors’ meeting held on 13 May 2010?
AnswerView source ↗
Answered
9 September 2010
Responded by
Minister for Local Government
Response time
30 days
(a) No.
(i) I am advised that the Standards Panel did not make any finding that the information provided was false or misleading. Given the Panel is staffed by a former Deputy State Solicitor and a practising lawyer, I accept their qualifications to make this judgement.
(b) The Local Government Standards Panel is completely independent in its operation and decision making. I have no direction over the Panel's dealing with complaints.
(c)My Chief of Staffhas received phone calls from the Deputy Mayor and Mayor of the City of Albany seeking procedural advice and to discuss related matters.
(i) My Chief of Staff keeps me informed on a regular basis of matters that need to be brought to my attention.
(d) I have declined to meet with individual Councillors of the City of Albany.
(i) I will only deal with the Mayor or the Mayors representative or the Council as a whole.
(e)
The call for an inquiry to examine issues, using compulsive powers, was not considered necessary as I had full cooperation from the City of Albanyin identifying the problems it is facing. The Better Practice Review and the Planning Consultant have delivered their first reports. Both reports have provided significant guidance to the City on what it must do.
The reports identify that at the heart of the problem is the need for the City to work on defining its future vision for the City of Albany. This needs to be developed by engaging community stakeholders at all levels. It is clear that any project of this magnitude will depend heavily on Council taking a prominent leadership role. I need to make it clear that Council's future as a governing body is dependant on its ability to demonstrate that it is capable of taking on this significant role.
(f) No.
(i)
The decision to payout the CEO was a decision that the Council was lawfully entitled to make and I understand was made after taking legal advice. While individual councillors may disagree with this decision, it was a decision of Council and these individuals need to move on and recognise that this is not the most pressing issue facing the City and the community of Albany.
(g)
I have invested considerable resources to assist Council put its house in order. The Better Practice Review and the specialist consultants have provided expert guidance for the City to achieve best practice in its operations.
The community and I have a right to expect Council will work together with the consultants and its administration to achieve high standards in governance. Equally, if Council is not up to the task, the community has a right to expect me to act decisively, a responsibility I take seriously.
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(i) I am advised that the Standards Panel did not make any finding that the information provided was false or misleading. Given the Panel is staffed by a former Deputy State Solicitor and a practising lawyer, I accept their qualifications to make this judgement.
(b) The Local Government Standards Panel is completely independent in its operation and decision making. I have no direction over the Panel's dealing with complaints.
(c)My Chief of Staffhas received phone calls from the Deputy Mayor and Mayor of the City of Albany seeking procedural advice and to discuss related matters.
(i) My Chief of Staff keeps me informed on a regular basis of matters that need to be brought to my attention.
(d) I have declined to meet with individual Councillors of the City of Albany.
(i) I will only deal with the Mayor or the Mayors representative or the Council as a whole.
(e)
The call for an inquiry to examine issues, using compulsive powers, was not considered necessary as I had full cooperation from the City of Albanyin identifying the problems it is facing. The Better Practice Review and the Planning Consultant have delivered their first reports. Both reports have provided significant guidance to the City on what it must do.
The reports identify that at the heart of the problem is the need for the City to work on defining its future vision for the City of Albany. This needs to be developed by engaging community stakeholders at all levels. It is clear that any project of this magnitude will depend heavily on Council taking a prominent leadership role. I need to make it clear that Council's future as a governing body is dependant on its ability to demonstrate that it is capable of taking on this significant role.
(f) No.
(i)
The decision to payout the CEO was a decision that the Council was lawfully entitled to make and I understand was made after taking legal advice. While individual councillors may disagree with this decision, it was a decision of Council and these individuals need to move on and recognise that this is not the most pressing issue facing the City and the community of Albany.
(g)
I have invested considerable resources to assist Council put its house in order. The Better Practice Review and the specialist consultants have provided expert guidance for the City to achieve best practice in its operations.
The community and I have a right to expect Council will work together with the consultants and its administration to achieve high standards in governance. Equally, if Council is not up to the task, the community has a right to expect me to act decisively, a responsibility I take seriously.
Notice: This document is created or edited using unregistered or evaluation copy of rtLib valid for testing or development purposes only. To use it for productive or any other purposes please register it. You may purchase the license on
http://www.rtlib.com
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