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Wednesday 13 September 2023
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Stepping up for spring WILD winds at the change of seasons certainly put a spring into the step of this brave pier walker at Dromana.
“Storm havoc and emergency calls for help” Page 5 Picture: Yanni
No public questioning of shire officers Keith Platt keith@mpnews.com.au MORNINGTON Peninsula Shire councillors have rejected a call that would have allowed officers to be questioned in public about the contents and possible consequences of their reports. The bid by Cr David Gill to clear the way for the public questioning of officers was defeated last week on the casting vote of the mayor, Cr Steve Holland.
With one councillor absent, the vote was tied five all and Holland, in line with accepted procedure, used his extra vote as meeting chairperson to retain the status quo, which prevents the officers being questioned at public council meetings. In the lead up to the vote at the 5 September council meeting, Gill said officers had to accept that “embarrassing questions come with the territory”. “The elephant in the room is the embarrassing questions. A lot of people in this room, and they’re not necessar-
ily around this part of the table (pointing to councillors), see questions as embarrassing,” Gill said. “If they see it that way, then they shouldn’t be. That is unacceptable, that is not transparency. “Some councillors in this room never supported question time, the questioning of officers. So, it will be interesting to see how they vote. “My view is simply [that] we believe in transparency and accountability. “Officers’ reports affect the lives
of the people in our community, and they should be held accountable. They should be able to answer questions in public from the representatives of the public of our community, which is us. “Until this term of council there was never an occasion where an officer didn’t present a report and questions were allowed to be asked. Never. It was part of the way we operated. “We tried to be accountable, we tried to be transparent. Something has been lost.” Cr Debra Mar said if some ques-
tions had not previously been aired in public councillors “may even sound as if we’re talking in tongues”. Holland said councillors had several ways of asking officers about their reports away from public meetings. He said councillors were able to ask questions of officers “at absolutely any time, and that is the privilege of being a councillor”. Questions could be asked on behalf of a resident at any time through an online portal “and get a response from the relevant officer”. Continued Page 8