Reports on the council meetings for:
Hobsons Bay – 13 August 2024
By Dr. Josie Vine
Former mayor and current Cherry Lake Ward councillor, Cr Tony Briffa, has announced she will not be standing for re-election in October.
Making the announcement on her Facebook page, Cr Briffa said she had spent the past 12 months grappling with the decision.
Cr Briffa was elected to council in 2008 and served consecutively since.
“I am very grateful to the community for the incredible support I have enjoyed including the amazing results at every election,” she said.
Cr Briffa’s announcement came just days before a bruising August council meeting lasting more than three hours.
Those of us who attended managed to make our way through Public Question Time, the Chief Executive Officers Report, a contract for retail electricity, oh… and the awarding of $109,14 for the mayor’s allowance, $54,558 for the Deputy Mayor’s allowance and $34,08 for councillors’ allowances (an increase of 3.5 percent).
“Everyone can see we do it for love,” Cr Pamela Sutton-Legaud said.
There were one or two threatened ‘points-of-order’ during discussion on a culvert upgrade to Racecourse Road in Altona, but mostly relations remained cordial.
It was at the end, during ‘urgent business’ – designed for councillors to bring up last-minute issues off-agenda – that the chamber felt not unlike a kindergarten.
Cr Jonathon Marsden put forward a motion to consider “an item of urgent business” related to Cr Peter Hemphill’s extended leave of absence. Cr Hemphill had put in an apology for the meeting after he had previously raised “some areas of great concern” in Council’s Complaint Handling Policy, under which Cr Briffa had been exonerated of a public complaint.
There was some question over whether the “urgent business” had been lodged before 12 noon the previous day (as stipulated under Hobsons Bay Governance Rule 12.4.2). But before that could be established, Cr Briffa said the matter of Cr Hemphill’s Leave of Absence could not be considered “urgent”.
“This isn’t urgent,” she said. “If he needs a Leave of Absence then he can submit a Leave of Absence between now and the September meeting, so in that respect it’s not even an urgent item of business.”
There was an uncomfortable interlude while Mayor Matt Tyler and council officers huddled together to consider Cr Briffa’s point, during which Cr Kellendar told the chamber: “Someone’s looking quite smug there, councillor Briffa”.
Quite what Cr Kellander meant by this is open for interpretation, but Cr Briffa was confident in her point of order.
“It’s funny how some councillors think that some governance rules should be obeyed, for some things and not others,” Cr Briffa said.
But before the exchange could escalate, Mayor Cr Matt Tyler intervened.
“Councillor Kellander, Councillor Briffa, just halt for a sec, I need to collect my thoughts,” he said.
In the end, Cr Tyler told the chamber council could not vote on Cr Hemphill’s Leave of Absence.
Cr Hemphill’s apology for the August meeting was passed unanimously.
Brimbank – 20 August 2024
By Dr. Josie Vine
Brimbank seems to be getting slightly shirty with its State Government counterparts lately.
Three State organisations will be receiving stiffly-worded letters after Council passed three separate motions at last month’s meeting.
The first of these dispatches will be sent to the Transport Department and Roads Minister after council was told last month that the state would not be contributing any further funding for mowing the lawn along the arterial roads north of Ballarat Road.
Council had entered an agreement with the state government in 2014, under which council was reimbursed for keeping this area of state responsibility manicured.
But state funding has not kept up with garden maintenance costs it seems. Currently ratepayers pay $475,000 per year to keep the grass trim, with the state still paying $109,090 of that total. A report submitted to council last month “anticipated” this cost was “likely to increase” in coming years.
Council wrote to the Transport Department and Roads minister in April, saying it could not maintain the terms of the agreement without further funding. The minister replied that he was “disappointed” that council would no longer mow the lawns north of Ballarat Road, and no additional funding would be forthcoming.
Cr Virginia Tachos said the refusal to provide increased contributions to council maintenance of “state-owned assets” had “created further financial burden” on ratepayers.
“If the Department of Transport is not prepared to increase its contribution towards the maintenance of its own roads then we hand back the responsibility to the state,” she said.
Council will be writing to the Roads Minister and the Transport Department, providing six months’ notice of its decision to hand back responsibility for the lawn mowing services under the 2014 agreement’s Termination Clause.
Another epistle will be dispatched to the Environment Protection Authority and Worksafe, strongly suggesting that they convene a community question-and-answer forum after last July’s Derrimut chemical fire.
More than 50 trucks responded to the fire that engulfed the ACB chemical factory on Swann Drive in Derrimut on July 10. Firecrews were still mopping up and atmospheric monitoring continued weeks after the flames were put out.
Cr Tachos said residents themselves had requested a meeting with the EPA, but had not received a response.
“Residents have a right to understand what is happening in their neighbourhood,” she said.
Cr Tachos said the EPA had held a meeting in Altona on a weekday at school pick-up time, and many Derrimut residents had been unable to attend.
“Residents would like a meeting to be held in Derrimut at a location and time that is accessible by residents,” she said.
And finally from Brimbank …
It’s been almost 50 years since the Vietnamese community’s settlement in Australia after the fall of Saigon in 1975.
Council appeared somewhat miffed that the Multicultural Affairs minister had not seen fit to recognise Brimbank as having the largest Vietnamese community in a Victorian municipality.
“They have enriched our multicultural landscape with vibrant traditions, cuisine and festivals,” Cr Thuy Dang said.
Addressing the chamber, Cr Dang “called upon” her fellow councillors to “acknowledge the courage and perseverance” of the Brimbank Vietnamese community.
Council will be writing to the Multicultural Affairs minister, seeking practical support for next year’s commemorative activities and celebrations.
Maribyrnong – 20 August 2024
Ruby Fox, RMIT Journalism
Maribyrnong sure is a municipality of dog-lovers!
Maribyrnong council received 16 letters from the public about the controversial McIvor Reserve redevelopment at its August meeting, more than half of which were concerned about the dog park.
It was little more than 12 months ago that Council voted on developing a Masterplan for the McIvor Reserve redevelopment amid community division between sporting fans and dog walkers.
Infrastructure Director, Patrick Jess, said Council was “committed to progressing” design for the civil and landscaping components of the Masterplan which include Roads, Pathways, Parking, planting of Trees and Sports fields.
He said Council would deliver female friendly changerooms, new fencing and safety barriers in the soccer and hockey fields, upgrade irrigation to the baseball diamond and environmental soil sampling.
Mr Jess said part of the Masterplan included “improving and upgrading” the dog park, but Council was “reviewing” Maribyrnong’s 12 other dog parks and receiving requests for new dog parks.
He said the dog park redevelopments would be reliant on a funding application to the Federal Government, which was due for submission in October.
Despite the dreary weather outside, there was an excited crowd in the gallery.
Representatives from Maribyrnong’s Tibetan community attended asking Council to fly the Tibetan flag each year on March 10 in support of Tibetan Uprising Day.
Cr Simon Crawford said the flag’s purpose was to allow people in the community “to have their voice” but Cr Anthony Tran said allowing “everyone” to fly their flag “opened the door to many other queries and issues”.
Cr Bernadette Thomas said Maribyrnong was “a community that welcomes refugees and asylum seekers” and should “celebrate and support those communities as well.”
Cr Clarke said we were “lucky to celebrate” Tibetan culture.
“Given that we get to taste firsthand and enjoy firsthand Tibetan culture, then at the very least we can afford to fly the Tibetan flag one day a year,” he said.
The motion was passed, with Mayor Lam claiming she was “in the position to support that.”
Wyndham – 27 August 2024
A solid public turn out sat through an unruly Wyndham Council meeting last month, as the saga over spats between elected representatives continued.
It all started back in December, when a Councillor Conduct Panel report into “serious misconduct” of Cr Jasmine Hill was tabled. According to the report, Cr Josh Gilligan accused Cr Hill of “unreasonable behaviour” towards Wyndham staff on 19 occasions throughout 2021 and 2022.
Cr Hill had made a $50,000 claim on council insurance to launch a failed defence against the accusation.
Describing the panel result as “unjust” and the allegations as “untrue”, Cr Hill called for the redacted report’s details to be made public. In the meantime, Cr Hill appealed the panel’s decision at VCAT, allowing her to
resume official duties.
Fast forward to Council’s last meeting, Cr Josh Gilligan tabled a motion to publish the tax invoice detailing Cr Hill’s legal expenses spent on defending the “serious misconduct” accusation in the Councillor Conduct Panel report.
“This report notes the single greatest expense ever incurred or claimed by a councillor in Wyndham City Council’s history,” he said. “It is important to the public interest that this invoice be made public in terms of placing it in the minutes of the ordinary council meeting.”
Cr Gilligan said there was also an extra $23,000 spent “in relation to the panel matter”.
“By shining a light on what ratepayers paid for will set, in my mind, an important and standing precedent about this in the future, heaven forbid, we have a scenario like this one ever occur in the this place ever again,” he said.
But Cr Marcel Mahfoud said the details of the tax invoice were “totally irrelevant”.
“Again I think this is just some more game-playing, a bit more of the witch-hunt, as it’s been from the start,” he said. “I do not see any purpose in a full tax invoice and what that means.”
Cr Hill said the expenses were the result of Cr Gilligan’s “baseless accusations”, which should have been dealt with by the CEO.
“Selectively targeting me not only undermines the principle of fairness but also distracts from the more important issues we should be addressing in this council,” she said. “Transparency is essential, but it must be applied consistently, and not as a tool for political point-scoring.”
The alternative motion to release the tax invoice for the legal fees was lost five votes to six, closely followed by Mayor Jennie Barrera “warning” Cr Gilligan to calm down.
Municipal monitors are currently appointed to Brimbank council, in part to ensure elected representatives do not interfere in the roles of council officers.
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A Council is only as good as the people who get involved! Check the below for your council’s next meeting.
Hobsons Bay City Council
Tuesday 10 September 2024, 7pm
at the Hobsons Bay Civic Centre. The meeting will also be live streamed.
Maribyrnong City Council
Tuesday 10 September, 6.30pm
at Council Chamber, Braybrook Community Hub, 107–139 Churchill Avenue.
Brimbank City Council
Tuesday 10 September, 7pm
at Council Chamber, 301 Hampshire Rd, Sunshine.
Wyndham City Council
Tuesday 10 September, 6pm
at Council Chamber, Wyndham Civic Centre, 45 Princes Highway.
