Coober Pedy Council administrator Tim Jackson says Adelaide City woes could be fixed by letting panel appoint councillors

The man brought in to turn the troubled Coober Pedy council around has a radical plan he says could help fix infighting inside the Adelaide City Council.

Adelaide City councillors should be appointed by a panel, helping to reduce infighting and providing a broader skills range in the chamber, says the man brought in to fix Coober Pedy’s local government debacle.

Coober Pedy Council administrator Tim Jackson, who is also a City Council ratepayer, said the change could help address the council’s troubled finances, which were “quite worrying”.

“Generally speaking in Australia, capital cities are very well placed financially ... so for a capital city to be struggling is very surprising and shouldn’t have occurred,” he said.

Mr Jackson recently responded to the City Council’s representation review – which all councils must conduct periodically – suggesting a new model involving ratepayers electing a panel, which in turn would appoint councillors.

The panel’s role would be to ensure there was a diversity of ages, genders and cultural backgrounds within the group, along with a broad skills base including people with experience running large corporations. Any such change would require legislation.

Adelaide City Council meeting at Adelaide Town Hall. Picture: Colin James

“A voter doesn’t really look at how that group is going to work together,” said Mr Jackson, who spoke as a ratepayer.

“There’s no better system than democracy but maybe there are variations that could improve the outcome.

“It’s a very significant business and at the end of the day it’s an organisation that needs to pay its way and you need to make sure you get the best people for the job. That’s a weakness with the (current) election process.”

The council’s $280m draft 2021-22 budget predicts a wafer-thin surplus.

Further borrowings for projects would take the council’s total debt to a record $99m.

Town Hall has also been plagued by infighting and clashes with senior management.

A confidential investigation by law firm EMA Legal highlighted bullying, intimidation and harassment of staff.

Mr Jackson said another option to overhaul council representation was to have half of the councillors elected and the other half appointed, which may be more palatable to ratepayers than an entirely appointed group.

Former Playford Council CEO and current administrator of Coober Pedy Council, Tim Jackson. Picture: ian Roddie

Adelaide should be treated differently to other suburban or regional councils, he said, because of its large budget, its stake in businesses and employment and the state’s focus on its capital city.

Mr Jackson – a former Playford Council chief executive – was appointed administrator of the District Council of Coober Pedy in January 2019 to help turn around its troubled finances. The Ombudsman found the council had committed maladministration by entering ino a $200m electricity agreement without a competitive tender process.

A spokeswoman for the City Council said it was doing a “comprehensive review” of its “representative structure”.

It would consider the optimal “composition, size or ward structure” to best represent its community, with public consultation running to May 5.

“We are taking a measured and rational approach to our finances,” she said, adding that included a strategic property review, keeping borrowing within prudential limits, maximising return on investments, and “major revenue-generating projects” such as the redevelopment of the Le Cornu and Central Market Arcade sites.

The spokeswoman said action was being taken to “improve workplace culture”.