Responsibility sits with voters to keep

We should expect high standards of our councils, says Simon Fraser – but the onus is also on us to pay closer attention to our elected officials

YOUR local council is far more like a corporation than a government, and the role of a councillor is far more like a board director than a politician.

That’s one of several discoveries I’ve made after three years at Glenorchy City Council.

I’m an independent director on the board of a notfor-profit organisation run for the benefit of our shareholders – everyone living within our municipal boundaries including ratepayers who provide most of the Council’s revenue.

The core work of a councillor includes weekends trawling through reports and policies, sometimes hundreds of pages long, the weekly workshop presentations and discussions and the monthly council meetings where questions are asked and decisions finalised, are like those of a board director.

Unfortunately, the mechanics of good governance are often misunderstood by both the public and some councillors themselves. If there was less focus on politics and more on being a good director, we’d have far fewer problems with councils.

Despite the similarities however, the standards of governance in the corporate sector, including government owned businesses, are much higher than they are for your local council. This may explain why so many councils become dysfunctional.

The 2017 report into the troubles at Glenorchy City Council clearly identified failures in governance as the major problem, including factionalism, dysfunctional relationships and complete confusion about roles and responsibilities.

The corporate sector sets the governance bar much higher, particularly regarding the skill and competence required of board members, the scrutiny of their conflicts of interest and the standards applied to their independence and impartiality.

That’s a shame given that councils are large, complex and influential organisations, that in most ways are operated and structured like a corporation.

My second discovery might hurt some egos.

I think most people rarely think about their local council. There are, of course, a minority of people who take an active interest in council matters, and there are the usual keyboard

warriors, but for most people the council only comes to mind when they receive their rates notice, when they see a pothole in their street or when there’s an election.

And even then, owing to non-compulsory voting, often only half of eligible voters can be bothered filling in their ballot and returning it.

My third discovery is that the general expectations of constituents are simple: get on with the job of planning, maintaining and building quality infrastructure and keep rates as low as possible. It’s not very sexy and it won’t make the headlines, but people want councillors to behave professionally, be less political and egotistical and more focused on good governance.

Council meetings shouldn’t be used as opportunities for political grandstanding and the airing of petty grievances but for the careful dissection of council reports and insightful questioning of the GM and the executive leadership team.

Just like a well-functioning board. Good governance should be at the forefront of people’s minds as we enter another round of by-elections. A well governed council isn’t dominated by the personality of a Mayor and candidates should not make bold claims about what a council is going to do after they’re elected. They are a single vote around the table.

And in the absence of more stringent governance standards, if voters want well governed, competent councils then they should carefully scrutinise the competence of candidates, any potential conflicts of interest they may have and their ability to be impartial and independent in their decision making. This is the only way governance will improve in local government.