Brimbank City Council
By Josie Vine
Watch out street and footpath traders in St Albans!
Council endorsed its $360,000 three-phase strategy to combat illegal sellers of homemade food and stolen goods at its last meeting.
Council heard an illegal footpath trade problem had “escalated” in the post-covid era and was “associated” with the increased cost of living.
Goods “generally include” frozen seafood, packaged meats, toiletries, vitamin supplements, and batteries, as well as homegrown produce, pre-packaged meals and drinks.
Council heard illegal footpath trading was largely concentrated on Alfrieda Street, particularly in “high-foot-traffic zones” in St Albans Town Centre.
Up to four Local Law Officers currently patrol the area for about 30 – 60 minutes around three times a day, and council has conducted multiple joint operations with Victoria Police, resulting in the seizure of goods, issuing fines and, in some cases, arrests.
“Despite these interventions, illegal trading typically resumes shortly after enforcement personnel leave the area, highlighting the transient and opportunistic nature of this activity,” the tabled report said.
The first “immediate response” phase of the strategy involves employing four temporary compliance officers for a 12-week intensive compliance program, a general education and engagement program and connecting unregistered traders with cultural leaders, and social services and support.
The second “targeted response” phase involves a “consistent City Compliance presence” on weekdays between 11am and 7pm, and on weekends from 11am – 5pm.
The third “ongoing response” phase involves two new permanent compliance officers who will “continue to patrol and control” activity in Alfrieda Street.
Maribyrnong City Council
By Josie Vine
It’s been a while since your correspondent attended a Marby meeting. But filling in for a colleague on leave, your correspondent found herself in the refurbished 1936 heritage chamber last month.
Besides, with Mayor Pradeep Tiwari ‘temporarily stepping aside from his duties’ (as the official council statement put it) your correspondent was somewhat curious about how council was going to handle his absence in a public forum.
Well your correspondent was a little disappointed. Apart from a slightly awkward moment when Deputy Mayor and Chairperson, Bernadette Thomas, asked if there were any apologies or Leaves-of-Absence, Cr Tiwari’s nonattendance might not have even happened.
Cr Thomas sat at the horse-shoe-shaped bench, with the regal-looking velvet chair behind, flanked by glass cases containing Harry-Potter-like robes of office. A mahogany-coloured brass-embossed clock face ticked portentously above the display.
Somewhat incongruously, a large high-tech monitor was mounted on the wall opposite, where councillors display their votes like some sort of google-poll. Except for when there was somewhat of a kerfuffle with the tech, and councillors went back to the old-fashioned method of voting by raising their hands.
Question time was again dominated by the hiring of private security guards to patrol Footscray’s CBD, with some asking why they were being used instead of police.
Cr Thomas said she had recently met with the Footscray Police station’s acting inspector, who “indicated” police were “increasing their patrols” in the CBD.
Planning and Environment Director, Mike McIntosh said council had a “really strong relationship” with Victoria Police and with its local police officers.
“Council staff liaise regularly with Victoria Police, almost on a day-to-day – certainly weekly – basis, and the Deputy Mayor also meets to discuss local policing and crime prevention initiatives,” he said.
Mr McIntosh said anecdotal feedback on the patrols had been “really positive”.
“Traders generally report feeling more supported and there have been no complaints or major incidences recorded,” he said. “Community members are engaging constructively with our local laws officers.”
He said funds had been allocated “within existing operational budgets” to “ensure proper evaluation of the outcomes” at the program’s conclusion.
Hobsons Bay City Council
By Josie Vine
Well after the August adjournment-filled meeting’s kerfuffle – which included the expulsion of an entire standing-room only gallery, a Municipal Monitor joining security to eject unruly members-of-the-public and councillors openly yelling at each other – your correspondent attended the September meeting with some trepidation. But by the meeting’s end, your correspondent was somewhat … um … cheered?
Not quite the right word, but read on.
The two councillors who had argued August’s most contentious motions – ‘Community Safety and Crime Prevention’; ‘Expression of Solidarity with the Hobsons Bay Community Regarding the Situation in the Middle East’; ‘Council’s Human Rights Obligations’ and ‘Advocacy for the Situation in Palestine to the Federal Government’ – had sent their apologies and did not attend the meeting.
Mayor Daria Kellander was back in the Chair’s seat and opened the meeting by telling the chamber that, under the new governance rules, there would be no supplementary public questions at the end of proceedings.
Now, as an advocate of the-now defunct practice of allowing live, unscripted public questions during council meetings, your correspondent felt her stomach sink – this was less, not more, public participation in democracy.
However, also under the new governance rules, members of the public were invited to read out their previously submitted questions. This was a big difference from the usual routine where the Mayor or CEO reads out public questions – which may (or may not) have been edited.
The gallery, however, appeared somewhat taken aback, and it was not until well into question time that a member of the public took up the opportunity. After that it was all go!
The rest of the questions, after a little confusion about who was going to read the background information, were addressed to council by the public.
Cr Kristin Bishop was even able to seek clarification from members of the public on their questions – deliberative dialogue in action!
WARNING, WARNING: OPINION FOLLOWS
Now, your correspondent understands why public questions are required to be submitted before a council meeting takes place – some questions are quite technical and councillors can’t be expected to have all the answers off the top-of-their-heads. But the routine of councillors or officers reading out pre-submitted questions does invite suspicion that questions have been, at best, cherry-picked or, at worst, tampered with to make council look good. The price we pay is in civic participation, deliberative dialogue and all that other jazz a healthy democracy needs.
And one can’t help but think there are reasons why the public is somewhat disengaged from the democratic process, there are reasons why there is a lack of trust in democratic institutions.
Hobsons Bay residents may still be waiting to be allowed to ask live, unscripted questions from the gallery during council meetings. But Wow! We seem to be a helluva lot closer.
Wyndham Council
By Jack Sutton
A few councillors were missing from the chamber at September’s meeting, including the CEO, Stephen Wall and Deputy Mayor Cr Josh Gilligan, but that did not stop the rest of the chamber from having an overall positive discussion tonight.
Most of the officers’ reports had little to no debate, as most of them appeared to be very routine, but one notice of motion, led by Cr Robert Szatkowski, trumped the rest of the talking points.
Cr Szatkowski wants spot checks for the misuse of disabled parking bays and fines dished out accordingly for the remainder of the year.
Wyndham has not run a dedicated campaign for this issue in over ten years which, according to Cr Szatkowski and many other councillors, is a “shame, and needs to be fixed”.
“These parking spots are not just a convenience, but a pathway to their independence.”
Cr Jasmine Hill summarised it best, putting herself in the shoes of those who struggle to use the facilities made available for them, stating that “life is already very difficult for these people, let’s not make it worse.”
All councillors had a say about the problem and thanked Cr Szatkowski for bringing the issue to light and explaining his plans to fix it.
Mayor Mia Shaw, emphasised the importance of speaking with the local community to find the parts of life they struggle with. The motion was carried.
