[Greens-Media] (Hale MLC) Mid-Western Regional Council: Don’t ask. Don’t tell.

[Colin Hesse]

Media Release

>From Sylvia Hale, Greens MP and spokesperson for Local Government

20 May 2010    - For immediate use   
            
Mid-Western Regional Council: Don’t ask. Don’t tell.
 
The crisis enveloping Mid-Western Regional Council at Mudgee deepened
last night when, on the Mayor’s casting vote, Council decided to end
the practice of recording meetings.
 
“Residents of the Mid-Western Local Government Area have every right
to be appalled at the actions of the four councillors who supported the
motion to prevent meetings being recorded,” said Sylvia Hale, Greens
MP and spokesperson for Local Government.
 
“Four of the eight Councillors voted against the change, and it
required the Mayor’s casting vote to push it through. The four
Councillors who opposed the motion are to be congratulated for standing
up for transparency and the public’s right to know what goes on at
Council meetings.
 
“If it hadn’t been for the May 2009 Council meeting being recorded,
residents would still be in the dark about what occurred. They would
know nothing of Clr Max Walker’s warning to Clr Shelley: ‘Don’t
ask the question, Councillor Shelley’, which many people could well
interpret as Councillors knowing that what they were doing was on the
nose.
 
“I expect many residents are dismayed to find their Council gracing
the front page of a major Sydney newspaper, but Council’s response has
been not to mend its ways when it comes to conflicts of interest, but to
ensure that no one learns about them.
 
“It raises serious concerns when a council opts for secrecy rather
than openness.
 
“Recording of council meetings is not a requirement of the NSW Local
Government Act - although it should be. Recording enables a verifiable
record to be kept and permits complaints about Council meetings to be
checked for their accuracy. Everyone wins -- frivolous complaints can be
easily shown to be just that, and serious concerns can be validated.
 
“Given that Mid-Western Council has recorded its meetings for many
years, it’s possible that putting an immediate stop to recording is a
violation of the Council’s Code of Meeting Practice.
 
“Council’s prohibition on recording may not have complied with the
requirement that it engage in public consultation before amending its
Code, and may therefore be in breach of the Local Government Act. 
 
 “I would have thought a prudent council would have been keen to
consult the community before acting so hastily. Prohibiting recording
suggests that Mid-Western Council is more interested in cover-up than in
transparency,” said Ms Hale.
 
 Contact: Colin Hesse on 02 9230 3030 or 0401 719 124