Loco government: The South Australian councils behaving madly
It’s still only August but the list of mind-bending motions, head-scratching scandals and backroom boilovers is already more than a year’s worth for frustrated ratepayers.
- Was Blackwood upgrade a $3.5m waste of money?
- Council’s push to poach neighbouring suburbs
- Adelaide’s skinniest hotel approved for CBD
- Council gag orders an affront to democracy
The unwritten contract between a council and its ratepayers should be a fairly simple one.
It basically boils down to collecting an acceptable amount of people’s hard-earned money and using it in a prudent way to build a stronger community.
But parish pump politics is rarely that easy.
Here, The Advertiser takes a look at some of the recent madness to come out of our council chambers, when most people would rather they focus on basic tasks such as cutting the grass (more on that later).
1. Carols dumped
Only a local council can turn a celebration of Christmas cheer into an argument about religious inclusiveness.
So hats off to Mitcham Council, which was labelled the Christmas Grinch after voting to cancel $45,000 in funding for its annual carols night.
Councillor Darren Kruse argued the event should be run by churches, not the council, because it was “fundamentally a religious event” and was “not inclusive”, despite regularly attracting more than 5000 people.
After overwhelming community backlash, a week later the council called a special meeting to reinstate this year’s carols. Hallelujah.
2. Gag orders
Many mayors and councillors love the sound of their own voice, but some are equally keen to silence those who rock the boat.
In June, Adelaide City Council was forced to rescind a controversial gag order, which one councillor said was designed to “shut certain councillors up”.
Councillors were banned from discussing proposals with the media before they were published in the council agenda. Two weeks after it was introduced, councillors buckled under pressure and scrapped the rule.
Unfortunately, the embarrassing backflip was not enough to deter other councils from attempting to follow suit. This week Onkaparinga Council delayed discussing a proposal which instructed elected members to “avoid” making comments that were critical of the council, its decisions or its administration on social media.
It also required them to inform the Mayor and the council’s chief executive of any contact with media outlets. The council will now hold a workshop to discuss the policy further.
Marion Council, at the request of councillor Matthew Shilling, is also considering introducing new rules to “control” comments made by councillors online and in the media.
3. The flowchart
Gawler Mayor Karen Redman was left embarrassed after the council’s media adviser decided to send a multi-step internal flowchart outlining its process for answering questions from the media to newsrooms last month.
The convoluted flowchart was accompanied by an email requesting journalists not contact anyone else at Gawler Council for information as this would “cause delays getting comments back to you”.
The flowchart went viral on social media.
To make matters worse, it was sent without the knowledge of Ms Redman, who has said she would continue to speak directly with journalists.
4. Sacred Kaurna trees
As part of a plan to develop the riverbank at Port Noarlunga, Onkaparinga Council wanted to remove a grove of swamp oak trees last month.
Only problem was they are considered sacred to the Kaurna people.
The council decided to seek advice from Premier Steven Marshall, who is also Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation Minister, to determine whether the site could be disturbed.
Two weeks later, the council said the land containing the grove was actually owned by the State Government and would be excluded from the development.
5 The grand piano
Norwood, Payneham & St Peters Council committed to spend up to $100,000 on a new grand piano for Norwood Concert Hall — a decision that was labelled “extremely disappointing and embarrassing” by Mayor Robert Bria.
The council had included the money for the piano in its budget on June 12.
That decision came nearly two months after the council “overwhelmingly rejected” a motion to fund a new piano following a request by the Adelaide Summer Orchestra.
Mr Bria unsuccessfully tried to convince his colleagues not to go ahead with the expensive purchase, saying: “I think the community will be appalled” at the cost.
6. Anne v Arman
The ongoing tension between Adelaide City Council faction Team Adelaide and other councillors, including veteran councillor Anne Moran, has made headlines for all the wrong reasons. Following fiery meetings with councillors hurling abuse at each other, elected members were asked to attend a training session on how to treat each other.
In May, Cr Arman Abrahimzadeh lodged a code of conduct complaint against Cr Moran for calling him a “dickhead” and allegedly swearing at him during a meeting.
In response, Cr Moran said she jokingly called him a dickhead when using “d” words to describe “developers”.
She regarded it a “lighthearted” comment, maintaining it was “not like” calling him “the c-word”. Charming.
The pair agreed to move on from the incidents during a phone call last week.
7. Fake grass
Marion Council turfed its decision to allow artificial lawn on nature strips, following the community’s “overwhelming” negative reaction to the decision.
In April, the council decided to allow residents to install fake grass outside their homes because it was a low-maintenance option to make streetscapes greener.
However, a month later, the council backflipped on the decision after hundreds of residents protested due to the visual and environmental impact.
8. Long may she reign
A motion to rehang a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II in the Tea Tree Gully Council chamber was described by Mayor Kevin Knight as unnecessary and “crazy stuff”.
The Queen’s portrait was removed several years ago for renovations and Cr Rob Unger successfully moved a motion in May to have it reinstated. Mr Knight said he was disappointed it had become official business and the portrait should simply have been “quietly put back from whence she came”.
9. Just cut the grass
This week The Advertiser was alerted to council verges in the western suburbs that were full of grass and weeds up to 60cm high.
Some residents were annoyed with Charles Sturt Council’s tardy response to clearing the overgrown verges, which the council blamed on heavy rain.
Rain in winter? Madness.