Push to ditch payments Councillor critical of director fees

BRIGHTON Councillor Jessica Whelan is calling on council staff and elected members to give up the payments they receive for being directors of a council-owned company.

In the closed portion of the Brighton Council meeting tonight, elected members will discuss Cr Whelan’s notice of motion about fees paid to directors of software company Microwise.

The software, which manages local government operations, was developed in the mid-1990s by a council programmer and by 1998 the council had set up Microwise to be a separate company, but still owned by the council.

It earnt the council about $325,000 in 2019.

Ron Sanderson, who has been in the top job at Brighton for 15 years, has dual roles as general manager of the council and also Microwise, which he spruiks to other local governments around the world.

Mr Sanderson’s $295,000 annual salary package includes a commission from Microwise, which was approximately $77,000 last year.

Council’s most recent annual report lists the directors of Microwise as being Mayor Tony Foster, Cr Leigh Gray, deputy general manager Gregory Davoren, former general manager Geoff Dodge and chief operating officer James Dryburgh.

The report stated that directors fees of $36,106 were paid during the last financial year.

Cr Whelan, who made national headlines last year when she was disendorsed by the Liberal Party during the federal election campaign, said she had an issue with the fees paid.

“It’s a 100 per cent councilowned company and my opinion is those councillors and employees are already remunerated appropriately and if they wish to be a director of Microwise then they should take on that role without any additional financial benefit for it,” she said.

Cr Whelan has also submitted a notice of motion calling on the council to advertise the Brighton Community News for sale by expressions of interest. In 2018-19, the gross cost to council of producing the paper was just over $128,000, with $33,000 in revenue made, making the final net cost $95,000.

“It’s a $100,000 ratepayer funded free advertising platform for the mayor and the GM — they basically put out the information that they want to put out and only that information,” Cr Whelan said.

Comments from council management on the agenda for tomorrow’s meeting note that the Brighton Community News was not a newspaper, but a council newsletter.