City Hall: Council rejected questions ahead of March meeting

Public questions concerning councillor Peter Murrihy’s motion were thrown out prior to last week’s council meeting, as City Hall’s policy has come under scrutiny.

Greater Geelong’s chief executive Ali Wastie, left, and mayor Trent Sullivan, right, have the final say on whether a public question submitted ahead of a council meeting is accepted.

Public questions concerning an alternative motion recently put forward by councillor Peter Murrihy were thrown out prior to last week’s council meeting, as City Hall’s policy comes under scrutiny.

In February, Mr Murrihy presented a last-minute motion to swap an application for grant funding from Bell Park’s Hamlyn Park, which council officers had reccomended, to Newtown and Chilwell’s Elderslie Reserve.

Both clubs had lobbied for funding for many years, however the process behind the decision has since been questioned.

Across all topics, City Hall’s executive director of corporate services Troy Edwards said council received one submission and 37 questions from 24 submitters for its March meeting.

“One submission and six questions were deemed ineligible under part seven of the public question and submission time policy,” Mr Edwards said.

“Four items (of those rejected) related to the (Elderslie Reserve) grant decision made in the previous month.”

Mr Edwards said questions and submissions “must be made in accordance” with the city’s policy.

Mayor Trent Sullivan and chief executive Ali Wastie have the final say.

“The chief executive and mayor receive advice from relevant internal officers regarding interpretation of the policy requirements,” Mr Edwards said.

*** The City of Greater Geelong’s public submission and question time policy can be found here ***

The city received 377 questions prior to council meetings in 2023.

This equated to around 31 a month, however Mr Edwards did not say how many questions it had rejected in that period.

Questions that were not submitted beforehand but asked on the night are not included in this number.

An analysis of council meeting minutes revealed around 260 questions were asked at Geelong council meetings last year.

Under the policy, the city allocates 45 minutes for submissions and questions from the public at each council meeting, with written answers provided to anybody whose question was not able to be heard in that time.
However, council has begun to extend question time beyond 45 minutes, likely following backlash during last year’s library funding saga that the public’s questions weren’t being heard in a public forum.

Elsewhere in the region, Surf Coast Shire’s acting manager of strategy and effectiveness Damian Waight said council received 122 public questions in 2023, or around 10 questions per meeting on average.

An analysis of council meetings during the period revealed that just over 100 public questions were answered, including several off-the-cuff follow-up questions that were not submitted prior.

Mr Waight said whether a question was accepted was governed by the shire’s governance rules.

“If questions do not meet the requirements within our governance rules, officers will contact the submitter and provide them the opportunity to resubmit their question,” he said.

A spokeswoman for the Borough of Queenscliffe said it received 82 public questions during 2023 and all were accepted.

Originally published as City Hall: Council rejected questions ahead of March meeting