by Sahar Foladi
City of Greater Dandenong is investigating whether to become one of the first Victorian councils to open its councillor briefing sessions (CBS) to the public.
The motion, initiated by councillor Rhonda Garad, passed at the council meeting on Monday 10 February, giving council officers two months to prepare a researched report.
Cr Garad argued that live-streaming CBS’s would lead to more “transparency, civic engagement, and confidence in local government”.
The report will outline the implementation process, costs involved and the support to council staff and councillors to transition to a live-streamed CBS.
Votes on the motion were a tie, with only eight councillors in attendance.
Mayor Jim Memeti used his casting vote to get it over the line.
Councillor Sean O’Reilly opposed the motion, soon after successfully leading a motion for more transparency in the council’s handling of residents’ customer-service requests on its MERIT system.
He opposed Cr Garad’s motion on the basis of cost, saying it’s a “waste of time.”
“I don’t see any value in the motion generally now. We should be thinking about council costs and increasing efficiency.
“Within a briefing session, a lot of ideas and proposals are put forward in very early stages, different ideas are discussed and it could be extremely problematic (for residents) if broadcasted. It could cause anxiety to even see things in briefing sessions which won’t be followed through.
“Most residents aren’t inclined to see the sausage being made, they just want Council to make good decisions on their behalf.”
Councillor Bob Milkovic said he was “flabbergasted” by O’Reilly’s opposition.
“It’s important to realise yes, the public need to know where the (MERIT) reports are but the public also need to know what’s said behind closed doors.
“Surely this has to be way more important to make sure we show the public we have nothing to hide, we’re open, we’re transparent and we’re here for you.
“As councillors if we can’t face the consequences of our decisions or our deliberations within the council briefing sessions in front of the public … then we probably shouldn’t be councillors.
“We need to stand by our decisions, be open to scrutiny and we need to be able to take it and deliver our ideas to the community.”
Meanwhile, Cr O’Reilly’s motion will lead to the council’s MERIT performance being reported publicly within four months.
The information would include the number of reports received, the number closed per month, the top five categories of reports – such as illegal rubbish dumping, the median time to close reports and the percentage where council attempted to inform the reporter on the outcome.
The open-door CBS will be considered again after a report is brought to the council within the two-month period.
