The Advertiser Editorial: Onkaparinga Council needs new leadership to end circus | End this congestion

RESIDENTS in the southern suburbs deserve much, much better. A change of leadership and direction at Onkaparinga Council is needed. If it is not done from within, then it must be forced upon them.

THE best councils are a bit like the best footy umpires; you don’t notice the really good ones.

They do their jobs without fuss, allow the game to carry on with minimal interference and focus, without ego, on their core responsibilities. The minute they start making themselves the centre of attention, they are in deep trouble.

This is where Onkaparinga Council finds itself.

Councillors are elected to represent their communities. Council officers are paid, by ratepayers, to do the same. Both groups are the employees of the people they serve.

But sometimes this very basic and fundamental principle gets lost in a fog of infighting and confusion.

It is at this point that it becomes clear a council has lost sight of why it exists in the first place.

Onkaparinga has been a problem child for some time.

It started when the council billed ratepayers $6818 so its chief executive, Mark Dowd, could join the prestigious Kooyonga Golf Club.

The pressure continued after residents and some councillors raised concerns about staff credit card spending, which has triggered an investigation by the state’s Ombudsman.

The situation culminated this week when councillors passed a no-confidence motion in their mayor, Lorraine Rosenberg.

Onkaparinga is not the first council to be hindered by internal dysfunctional dynamics, and it will not be the last. But it needs to act now on behalf of its ratepayers.

Under former chief executive Jeff Tate, Onkaparinga was widely regarded as among the most cohesive and progressive councils in South Australia. It is now very close to being a laughing stock and has no one to blame but itself.

Local councils are a vital cog in the levels of government; they are the most closely connected with their grassroots communities.

As such, residents in the southern suburbs deserve much, much better. A change of leadership and direction is needed. If it is not done from within, then it must be forced upon them.

Fix the congestion

IN a city where our population growth has been near on stagnant for years, it is incredible to think congestion on our roads is on par with bigger capital cities such as Perth and Brisbane and not far behind Melbourne.

The 2018 Public Transport Barometer, released today by peak industry group the Tourism and Transport Forum, shows congestion on the city’s roads adds 26 minutes to the daily two-way commute for workers during peak hour. This is a minute longer than in Perth and only one minute less than Brisbane. One of the key reasons appears to be our fixation on driving to work and shunning public transport.

Only 10 per cent of commuters in Adelaide use public transport – a figure that has remained almost unchanged over the past 12 years.

Adelaide has long had a desirable reputation of being an easily accessible “20-minute city”, however that mantle is slipping. Continued investment is required in public transport to make it as attractive as possible, while expediting the South Rd corridor works is more important than ever. While this will help, South Australians also need a culture shift towards using more public transport.