‘Keep us in the loop on budget’
Mayor urged to make directives public
A GOLD Coast City Councillor is calling for all mayoral directives to be made public after it was revealed Mayor Tom Tate conducted budget talks with a select group of colleagues.
The Mayor sent a mayoral directive to his Deputy Mayor Donna Gates, committee chairs and deputies, senior officers, CEO Dale Dickson and chief of staff Wayne Moran in December.
But several councillors only recently became aware of it after an updated email from the CEO, informing them that colleagues had discussed major reforms to the city’s operational budget.
Hinterland-based councillor Glenn Tozer told the Bulletin: “I think it would be in the public interest that a register of all mayoral directives issued be accessible to the community.
“The reason that I think that’s important is because of concerns from my community that mayoral directives are informing the direction of council, and they expect accountability in relation to those directives.
“They should be subject to accountability like every other council resolution. There is no current mechanism to advise all councillors when a mayoral directive is issued. And that needs to change.”
Cr Tate later told the Bulletin: “It is inappropriate to make mayoral directives available publicly as they often involve commercial sensitivities or relate to staff, or administrative matters.”
Cr Tozer said he was concerned what effect the private budget discussions had on funding for transport, which he sees as a priority.
“There was a mayoral directive, 10 councillors were kept informed about the operational budget,” he said.
“Myself and five other councillors found out three months later there had been a pre-determined outcome in relation to operational expenditure.
“I have concerns that the capital works budget is going to be subject to a similar pre-determined outcome.”
Cr Tozer said he understood a directive was not in a technical sense regarded as a resolution of council, but it must not contradict a policy or a decision.
“It is my view that all directives should be subject to public accountability, and be sufficiently transparent that councillors and the public can reconcile them against council’s established position,” he said.
Cr Tozer said it was in the public interest that council have open and transparent conversations about the budget before special budget meetings. Veteran councillor Dawn Crichlow has supported special budget meetings being open to the public rather than the majority of sessions being closed.