David Penberthy: The new-look LGA is keeping councils focused on their day jobs

The perception of the new Adelaide City Council headed by the new Lord Mayor Sandy Verschoor has been wrongly defined by the all-in brawl over the proposed hotel at the Adelaide Oval — because it is actually getting things done, says David Penberthy.

SOMETHING strange is happening in the world of local government.

On recent trends, there is a very real risk that councils could wind up with a reputation for being competent.

The past few years have been damaging for the reputation of local government in this state.

At the same time the sector was running a self-interested campaign against the electorally popular rate-capping policy advocated by Steven Marshall, examples abounded within councils of profligacy and mismanagement, bickering and time-wasting, high-minded political posturing taking precedence over rubbish collection and road repairs.

Our biggest, Adelaide City Council, appeared to have mastered the art of saying no, be it to helipads, match-day football parking or rock concerts that extended past the ungodly hour of 10pm. And when it did say yes to something, such as the Frome St “upgrade” or the installation of new pavers on Hindley St and in Victoria Square, it still managed to stuff it up.

The perception of the new Adelaide City Council headed by the new Lord Mayor Sandy Verschoor has been wrongly defined by the all-in brawl over the proposed private hotel at the Adelaide Oval.

On this issue, it looks externally like the ACC has defaulted to its traditionally negative position.

New Adelaide Lord Mayor Sandy Verschoor … the council is actually getting things done, says David Penberthy.

The council argues it was left with no choice but to fight the project, claiming it was presented as a foregone conclusion and that as custodians of the city, the council will not tolerate being frozen out of conversations around such contentious major projects.

But with that exception, there are promising early signs that, far from acting like a bunch of Old Adelaide naysayers, the new Adelaide City Council is actually getting things done.

At the same time, the peak council body in SA, the Local Government Association, is moving to get its own house in order after a controversy-laden period under the tenure of Lorraine Rosenberg of Onkaparinga Council fame.

For all that ethereal management talk around the concept of culture, in a real sense, organisations only change in two ways. Changes to personnel, and changes to process.

The biggest change in terms of process has occurred at the LGA, which ended 2018 punch-drunk amid the backdraft of the scandals at Onkaparinga.

With a new president at the helm, Adelaide councillor Sue Clearihan, the LGA moved late last year to streamline the manner in which it considers policy motions from its member councils.

It is a centralised model aimed at stamping out crazy political nonsense and keeping councils focused on their day jobs.

The LGA holds two annual general meetings where historically councils could rock up and talk for as long as they like about pretty much anything.

This was the forum where some suburban councils could demand a two-state solution for Israel and Palestine, while ignoring the giant potholes outside the local kindergarten.

Now, the LGA has introduced a vetting process whereby all motions must be approved for discussion by the LGA board and the two peak regional and suburban council groups.

The criteria they must meet will be music to ratepayers’ ears: “They should be of strategic importance to local government and the LGA”.

This month the LGA ran a red pen through a proposal from Gawler Council to declare what is called an immediate worldwide climate emergency at its next general meeting.

The document supporting the motion reads as follows:
NOW is the time to act while we still have a chance … but time has almost run out!

NOW is the time to declare that we face a CLIMATE EMERGENCY!

NOW is the time to develop and enact a CLIMATE EMERGENCY ACTION PLAN!”

The LGA took one look at this undergraduate silliness and quietly put it in the bin, and sent a polite thanks but no thanks to the councillor in question.

Instead, the next LGA meeting will be debating matters including regional medical access, local transport issues, hardship policies for ratepayers struggling with their quarterly bills and two sensible climate change motions aimed at emission reductions.

The biggest change at the Adelaide City Council involves the people running it.

Last year’s election results delivered a strong showing for the ticket headed by Sandy Verschoor, whose candidates featured new and younger faces from the political centre — people like domestic violence campaigner Arman Abrahimzadeh, deputy mayor Houssam Abiad and businessman Franz Knoll.

Some of them are Liberals, others unaligned, but they are all showing a determination to bring a new spirit of managerialism to city hall.

Meetings that were once meandering cat-herding exercise that bore no resolutions are becoming much more focused, with several long-overdue measures being steamrolled through such as the abolition of outdoor dining fees, a continuation of the rates freeze, cuts to red tape, new rubbish removal services for business, sensible parking changes including Rundle Rd weekend parking and easier ticket validation systems.

There is talk that past emblematic failures such as the helipad proposal — an idea embraced by Melbourne City Council in the 1950s — will be revisited soon.

There was a telling moment at this Tuesday’s meeting when councillor Robert Simms, supported by Anne Moran and Phil Martin, attempted to move the aforementioned climate emergency motion put by Gawler Council, only to have the proposal dismissed as a motherhood statement that would simply waste the council’s time.

It all sounds quite sensible.

I can see no downside to any of this, aside from as a self-interested newspaper columnist who might find himself struggling for material if the common sense continues.