Pork-barrelling claims as Logan councillors vote back their $48m fund
Less than six months after a $48 million councillor discretionary fund was axed, Logan councillors will vote to get their hands back on it.
Logan
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Logan councillors will continue to be able to tap into a $48 million pool of money to spend on their wish lists, prompting claims of pork-barrelling.
Last year, interim administrator Tamara O’Shea redirected the money so it would be accounted for during the council’s annual budget process, which gave officers the power to spend it on projects deemed a priority.
“I am still utterly astonished that essential infrastructure such as footpaths, gravel road improvements and traffic safety, of all things, was managed through a councillor discretionary fund,” Ms O’Shea said in March.
“This process needs to have its foundations in evidence and identified priorities and not be linked to fear and favour. The obligation that elected officials have in managing the spending of public funds is not just about delivering them transparently, but being seen to be doing this in a transparent way.”
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However, without public consultation and behind closed doors, the newly installed council decided it wanted to move authority over the money back to the elected councillors and will vote on it at Wednesday’s full council meeting.
The push came from Cr Jon Raven who said the money was always accounted for in the budget but it should be councillors, not bureaucrats, who decide how it is spent.
The fund, which doles out $970,000 to each of the city’s 12 council electorates a year, can be saved up and “jackpotted” to allow councillors to spend all of their allocation towards the end of their four-year tenure, prompting claims of pork-barrelling.
The plan forces council bureaucrats to work with councillors, to design a local infrastructure program to meet the needs in each of the city’s 12 divisions.
Managers from parks, roads, water, and other areas of infrastructure, will prepare lists of potential projects and consult councillors with the Director of Community Services overseeing all proposals.
The policy switchback to councillors prompted mayor Darren Power to call for “transparency” measures to be installed, with Cr Raven calling for real-time online reporting of where money was being “moved” to.
Under the tentative plan, councillors will be able to ”adjust” or move money to where they believe it’s needed.
“People don’t realise how expensive a major park upgrade can be,” Cr Raven said.
“ … And if that means it moves around a little bit, because I know we put extra in, to cover unforeseen costs and then we can move some of that around.
“I even think seeing that movement is good for the community, to understand how councillors make sure they are getting value for their money and that dollar is being spent wisely.”
The shift in gear over the $48 million infrastructure funding raised concerns with the Logan Ratepayers Association as far back as March 2019.
Association president Rod Shaw said this week’s move by councillors to have complete discretion over how the money was spent was of great concern.
“Council has now decided, behind closed doors, to take control of these funds, change the name to Local Infrastructure Program giving councillors full control over millions of dollars so they can move the money to where they feel fit,” Mr Shaw said.
“It is fully discretionary again, and as Cr Lisa Bradley said it’s a councillor’s wish list.
“They can roll the fund over from year to year and there is no obligation for them to consult their community about where the funds are spent.
“It goes back to the old bad days and is pork barrelling by another name.
“They still have no reporting regulations around the spending and this is supposed to be developed and voted on at council this week.
“Who’s to say they don’t save up the money and spend it in the lead up to the next election?”