28th March 2021 (#7)

Subscriber-only episode

In this episode:
Former councillors and officers found to have engaged in serious corrupt conduct; a new multi-million dollar aquatic centre opens; CEO appointments in Victoria and Queensland; a new tool to help councils meet climate change obligations in their Council Plans; the US city that has abandoned tolls in favour of electric vehicles; and lots more from around the world of local government around Australia and internationally.

The Local Government News Roundup is brought to you by the Victorian Local Governance Association, home of the VLGA Connect series of local government focussed interviews and podcasts.

Links for this episode:
1. Macedon Ranges CEO appointed
2. Gippsland Regional Aquatic Centre launched
3. NAGA Climate Change guide
4. Brimbank pushes for Calder upgrade
5. Youth invited to name new Cardinia centre
6. Western Water biogas facility opened
7. First sod turned for Footscray Hospital
8. ICAC findings against former councillors and officers
9. Bayside No Cruise Ship campaign gets support
10. Isaac Regional Council CEO appointed
11. Ipswich Acting CEO appointed
12. Cairns new CEO starts
13. Maryland County renaming commission survey
14. Seattle abandons congestion pricing
15. Tucson polices recycling behaviour

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Links for stories referenced in the podcast can be found in the transcript, or by visiting the Roundup website.

Transcript

Hello and welcome to the Local Government News Roundup. I’m Chris Eddy, and this is episode 7, recorded 28th March 2021.

Coming up:
Former councillors and officers found to have engaged in serious corrupt conduct

A new multi-million dollar aquatic centre opens;

CEO appointments in Victoria and Queensland;

A new tool to help councils meet climate change obligations in their Council Plans;

The US city that has abandoned tolls in favour of electric vehicles;

And lots more from around the world of local government around Australia and

and internationally.

The Local Government News Roundup is brought to you by the Victorian Local Governance Association, home of the VLGA Connect series of local government focussed interviews and podcasts.

Macedon Ranges Shire Council has appointed its new CEO. Bernie O’Sullivan will make the move from the City of Greater Bendigo, where he is currently the Director of Strategy and Growth. 

Mr O’Sullivan, who has worked in senior leadership roles in state and local government, will replace John Nevins who has been in the role on an interim basis since last October. The vacancy arose with the resignation of former CEO Margot Stork last year.

The Mayor Jennifer Anderson said a national recruitment campaign attracted a very high standard of candidates, and the Council was pleased to have appointed someone with a wealth of leadership experience and a strong understanding of the issues impacting regional Victoria.

Mr Nevins will finish at Macedon Ranges on 21st April, and Angela Hughes will step in as Acting CEO until Mr O’Sullivan commences on 10th May.

The new $57 million Gippsland Regional Aquatic Centre was officially opened last week by state minister for regional development Mary-Anne Thomas and Latrobe City mayor Sharon Gibson.

The Premier Daniel Andrews pledged $46 million for the project in 2017, as part of the $85 million Latrobe Valley Sports and Community Initiative. Further contributions came from Sport and Recreation Victoria, and Latrobe City Council. 

The new centre features an eight-lane, 50 metre indoor pool, with 500 spectator seats; a regional first deep bore geothermal heating system; a cafe and retail precinct, and a 25 metre heated outdoor pool.

As Councils in Victoria are in the midst of developing a new Council Plan to be adopted later in the year, the new Local Government Act requires them to consider and plan for climate change risks. 

NAGA  - the Northern Alliance for Greenhouse Action - is working with Greater Melbourne councils to develop a body of research on how Councils are embedding climate change in their new Council Plans. A new guide has been developed with the aim of inspiring action and outlining responsibilities for senior managers, Councillors and those involved in preparing Council Plans.

It is hoped that the research gathered from the application of the guide will inform further work and assistance with embedding climate change action across council strategies and operations.

There’s a link in the show notes if you’d like to access the guide or find out more.

Brimbank City Council has launched a campaign for the upgrade of the Calder Freeway, and is writing to state and federal MPS for funding support.
The Council would like the state government to match a federal government commitment of $50 million for immediate upgrades. The Mayor, Ranka Rasic, says the upgrades are needed to slash congestion, reduce travel times and save lives.

Cardinia Shire Council is asking young people in the shire to come up with a name for its new youth centre to be built in Pakenham. The new centre will offer programs and services for young people aged 12 to 24, and is due to open in April 2022. The Council has committed $1.5 million to the project, with $3 million coming from the state government, and $1.5 million from the federal government.

Name suggestions are invited from young people by Sunday 18th April, with ten submitters to be randomly selected to receive a gift card.

In other brief news notes, a new cutting-edge waste to energy facility has opened in Melton. Western Water’s $3.3 million facility will treat up to 5,000 kilolitres of liquid food waste each year, converting it to biogas. It will generate up to 1,000 megawatts of renewable electricity, reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 900 tonnes annually.

The first sod has been turned at the site of the new $1.5 billion Footscray Hospital. Due to open in 2025, the hospital will provide over 500 beds and the capacity to treat an additional 15,000 patients each year.

And ALGWA Victoria has announced the addition of lawyer and human rights advocate Nyadol Nyuon as a keynote speaker at its upcoming conference on culture, conduct and retention. The conference will be held at the City of Yarra on 30th April and 1st May.

The Local Government News Roundup is brought to you by the Victorian Local Governance Association, the only independent governance organisation supporting councils and councillors in achieving the highest standards of governance on behalf of their communities. 

The VLGA provides opportunities for councillor networking, professional development and information exchange and actively engages with key policymakers and broader stakeholders to inform, influence and lead the conversations that determine the priorities for the sector.

All councillors and staff at a VLGA Member Council can access the VLGA’s programs and services. Membership is also open to non-council members and individuals interested in local governance. If you’d like to know more about VLGA membership, call (03) 9349 7999 or email vlga@vlga.org.au

Now for some news of the past few days from other states:

The New South Wales Independent Commission against Corruption has found that two former Canterbury City councillors, and a former senior manager, engaged in serious corrupt conduct by dishonestly and partially exercising their official functions through misusing their positions in relation to some Council planning matters.

ICAC released its Operation Dasha report last week, which also shows that the Commission found the Council's former general manager engaged in serious corrupt conduct. 

The commission has made 23 corruption prevention recommendations, and sought the advice of the Director of Public Prosecutions on whether any prosecution should be commenced.

Bayside Council in New South Wales has received unexpected support from the state’s planning minister for its No Cruise Ships in Botany Bay campaign this week. 

The Minister, Rob Stokes, has expressed concerns about placing a cruise ship terminal at Yarra Bay, south of Port Botany; comments which have been welcomed by Bayside Mayor Joe Awada. The Council has been strongly against a Botany Bay cruise terminal, largely on the basis of environmental impacts and ongoing repair costs.

To Queensland, a new Chief Executive Officer will take the reins at Isaac Regional Council with the announcement this week of the appointment of Jeff Stewart-Harris. Mr Stewart-Harris is currently the Council’s Director Planning, Environment and Community Services. He has previously held CEO positions at Mackay and Pittsworth Shire, and other senior leadership roles in the public sector.

The recruitment of Mr Stewart-Harris follows the announcement last year of the current CEO Gary Stevenson’s intention to step down by mid this year.

Ipswich City Council has appointed Corporate Services GM Sonia Cooper as its Acting Chief Executive Officer for a period of up to 6 months. This follows the resignation earlier this month of David Farmer, who is moving to the CEO role at Central Coast Council in New South Wales. The Council has established a CEO recruitment selection panel and commenced a process to recruit a permanent CEO in the coming months.

And Cairns Regional Council’s new CEO commences in the role this week. Mica Martin brings extensive local government experience to the position, including 29 years at Brisbane City Council with senior leadership roles in infrastructure, strategic planning and human resource management. Ms Martin will take over from Christine Posgate, who has been acting CEO since late last year.

For our international roundup this time around, we go to the United States - where a county in Maryland, USA has commenced a process of surveying its community on which places or monuments in its area may need a name change. 

Prince George’s County last year created a ‘renaming commission’ to consider whether any inappropriate designations should be changed. The commission is focusing on landmarks linked with a list of issues including confederate sympathy, slavery, racism, white supremacy, misogyny.

In Seattle, Washington, a controversial proposal to introduce congestion pricing, or tolls, on downtown driving has been abandoned in favour of emissions reduction solutions that focus on transportation equity and environmental justice.

A new blueprint for electrifying transportation aims to make 90% of personal transport and all taxi and car- share services carbon neutral by 2030 - an aim that will require major investment in infrastructure, such as charging stations.

And to Tucson, Arizona, where the city is sending inspectors out to monitor how 24,000 households are using their recycling bins. The inspectors are looking to see if prohibited materials are going in the recycling bins, and will tag those bins where restricted materials are found. After 4 tags, the bin will be confiscated.

The move is in response to a 30% contamination rate in collected recyclables, at a cost to the city of nearly $30,000 per month.

Tucson’s recycling service has gone from making an annual profit of around $1.5 million four years ago, to an annual cost of more than $3.5 million.

And that’s your local government news roundup for this time around. Links to all of the stories referenced can be found in the show notes. You can now access episodes and related information on the web at www.lgnewsroundup.com

The Local Government News Roundup is brought to you by the Victorian Local Governance Association. Subscribe to the VLGA Connect series of interviews and panel discussions on YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts.

Until next time, thanks for listening.