Why this mayor wants her councillor numbers cut: Onkaparinga’s Lorraine Rosenberg explains council review

A MAYOR in Adelaide’s south wants councillor numbers slashed by almost half, to address the issue of “over representation” and make decision-making less “unwieldy”.

Lorraine Rosenberg is a third-term mayor. Picture: Stephen Laffer

THE number of councillors representing southern residents could be slashed by almost half under a review of Onkaparinga’s ward structure.

Mayor Lorraine Rosenberg said there was an “over representation” of councillors and believed they should be cut from 20 to as little as 12.

“I’m very strong about the fact that I think we need to reduce (the number of councillors),” Ms Rosenberg said.

“If we look at representation levels, councillors have very clear roles under the legislation and they’re quite restricted.”

Ms Rosenberg said councillors were meant to act as board members and make decisions about policies and spending.

She said research of effective boards showed those with more than eight members started to become “unwieldy”.

“I think we are far too large for the jobs we are meant to be doing.”

Ms Rosenberg receives an annual allowance of $86,569, while councillors are paid $21,642 a year.

The allowances are set by an independent Remuneration Tribunal.

Based on those figures, scrapping eight councillors would save the council at least $170,000 a year.

Ms Rosenberg pushed for 12 councillors during the last review in 2009 but said most of the councillors at the time were against the change.

“There were maybe one of two that said ‘let’s have a look at a decrease’,” Ms Rosenberg said.

She said it was much more balanced this time, which was a positive step.

Councils are required by law to conduct a review of their structures at least every eight years. Onkaparinga is considering six options including the current five wards, no wards, 18 councillors across six wards, 16 councillors across four wards, 15 councillors across five wards and 12 councillors across four wards. The review will be released for public consultation from August 9 to September 16.

Councillor Martin Bray pushed for an option of 16 councillors across eight wards, but his colleagues rejected the idea.

“I just think more wards might encourage more local forms of representation,” Cr Bray said. “If you’re serious about improving representation, eight wards makes sense to me.”

A report with findings from the review must be provided to the SA Electoral Commission by April.

Any changes would come into effect at the next local government elections in November 2018.