Close Menu
  • Home
  • News
  • Sport
  • Entertainment
  • Local History
  • Contact Us
  • Advertise With Us
  • About Us
  • Subscribe
  • Read Our Newspapers Online
    • Read the Latest Western Port News
    • Read the Latest Mornington News
    • Read the Latest Southern Peninsula News
    • Read the Latest Frankston Times
    • Read the Latest Chelsea Mordialloc Mentone News
  • Competition
Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram
Trending
  • On the run for mental health
  • Taste loss for single use coffee cups
  • Release for trapped kangaroo
  • Grassy bowl clearing a borderline ‘error’
  • Record penalty for labour hire firm
  • Fatal collision in Red Hill
  • New rules may lead to NDIS housing
  • Vape warning after extreme reaction
Facebook X (Twitter)
MPNEWSMPNEWS
  • Home
  • News
  • Sport
  • Entertainment
  • Local History
  • Contact Us
  • Advertise With Us
  • About Us
  • Subscribe
MPNEWSMPNEWS
Home»Latest News»Gill ready to lose seat over conduct code
Latest News

Gill ready to lose seat over conduct code

By Keith PlattFebruary 27, 2017Updated:February 27, 2017No Comments3 Mins Read
Share
Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Email

DESPITE knowing it would be a breach of the Local Government Act, Cr David Gill says he won’t sign a councillors’ code of conduct unless it is changed to lift the veil of secrecy involved in decision making.

“Too many things are debated in private [by Mornington Peninsula Shire councillors], the public hardly gets to hear anything,” Cr Gill said.

The clock is ticking for Cr Gill with just two council meetings to go before the one-month signing deadline.

If he has not signed the code before Monday 13 March Cr Gill will lose his right to be a councillor.

Cr Gill claims to have been gagged at the Monday 20 February council meeting when the mayor Cr Bev Colomb refused to accept amendments he proposed for the code on conduct.

“I didn’t get a chance to change it; I was denied the opportunity to change it,” he said.

Cr Gill said he accepted some of the changes to the code but believed it worked in opposition to the council’s stated aims of wanting to be transparent.

He said more information, especially about planning matters, should be publicly available.

Cr Gill said most planning matters were being decided “under delegation” by council officers although councillors were now “waking up to the fact there’s a need for them to speak with the officers”.

“Everything seems to be classed as a confidential working paper, which means councillors aren’t allowed to speak about them in public.

“All briefing papers are marked confidential, but they shouldn’t be. That would be transparency, and we haven’t got it right.”

Transparency was the word most frequently used by Cr Gill in the amendments he sought to the code of conduct.

“My additions and alterations to our version basically make transparency a main message … I also believe that the community will appreciate this additional emphasis,” Cr Gill stated in an email to his fellow councillors when explaining his reasons for seeking to amend the code.

The email was sent pone day before the 20 February public council meeting.

Basically, Cr Gill wanted them to agree to promoting “openness to scrutiny, transparency and accountability” in most council decisions.

During the meeting the mayor Cr Bev Colomb told Cr Gill he was “testing things at the moment”.

Cr Hugh Fraser (who signed the previous code of conduct under protest): “Those provisions of the old code of conduct, for example, that prevented criticism of other councillors for the way in which they debate and way they exercise their vote in council have been excised in the interests of promoting openness and free speech in council and adhering to our democratic traditions.”

Governance manager Joe Spiteri said councillors could bring back amendments to the code “and the administration will act accordingly”.

In a statement issued by the shire three days later, the mayor Cr Colomb was quoted as saying she “expects the newly-adopted councillor code of conduct to further strengthen council’s governance and maintain the highest standards of conduct and behaviour in the best interests of our communities”.

The shire’s media department did not respond when asked for further comment from the mayor.

The code can be viewed at shire offices or online at mornpen.vic.gov.au/councillors

First published in the Southern Peninsula News – 28 February 2017

Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email

Related Posts

Grassy bowl clearing a borderline ‘error’

December 6, 2023

Vape warning after extreme reaction

December 5, 2023

Fishers caught in paid parking net

December 4, 2023

Paid parking trial starts

December 4, 2023
Add A Comment

Comments are closed.

Peninsula Essence Magazine

Click here to read

November 27, 2023
Peninsula Kids Magazine

Click here to read

November 30, 2023
Council Watch

‘Dialogue’ terminated over flag

November 28, 2023

Transparency backed, but ‘secret’ talks stay

November 28, 2023
Letters to the Editor
Interview

Rolls Royce-driven life worth recording

November 13, 2023
Property of the Week

105 Quinns Parade, Mt Eliza

November 28, 2023
100 Years Ago This Week

Frankston shooting case – Accused committed for trial

December 4, 2023
Menu
  • Home
  • News
  • Sport
  • Entertainment
  • Local History
  • Contact Us
  • Advertise With Us
  • About Us
  • Subscribe
About

Established in 2006, Mornington Peninsula News Group (MPNG) is a locally owned and operated, independent media company.

MPNG publishes five weekly community newspapers: the Western Port News, Mornington News, Southern Peninsula News, Frankston Times and Chelsea Mordialloc Mentone News.

MPNG also publishes two glossy magazines: Peninsula Essence and Peninsula Kids.

Facebook X (Twitter)
© 2023 Mornington Peninsula News Group.

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.