Ryde Council: Councillors criticise Mayor Jerome Laxale panel move
Claims have been made that a mayor has “too much power” in the formation of an influential council panel.
Northern District Times
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A mayor has been accused of undermining the democratic process by giving himself the sole power to decide the make-up of an influential panel.
Ryde Mayor Jerome Laxale helped vote down a motion to give all councillors a say on who makes up a review panel that assesses the performance of the council’s general manager.
He instead voted to continue the status quo in which he alone decides who will be on the panel.
The panel, which is made up of three or four people, scores the performance of the general manager and recommends if he should get a pay rise and if so, by how much.
This recommendation then goes to the full council for a decision.
Yet the process by which the mayor chooses the panel goes against the recommendation of the Office of Local Government.
Its guidelines state “the mayor, the deputy mayor, another councillor nominated by council and a councillor nominated by the general manager” should make up the panel.
Deputy Labor mayor Peter Kim said the panel process gave “complete control” to the mayor.
“The Mayor has used the democratic process to give himself the sole power to decide the General Manager’s performance and pay,” Cr Kim said.
“Ryde will no longer have the separation of power which is fundamental in our democracy.”
Independent Cr Roy Maggio said: “Every councillor should have an opportunity because they appoint the general manager.
“So why all of a sudden for the review it’s only a certain number who are picked by the mayor.
“He (the general manager) is getting a lot of money.”
The debate comes after Cr Kim moved a failed motion for all 12 councillors to participate in the upcoming general manager performance review.
Cr Maggio said he was concerned the mayor would pick councillors he favoured.
“It’s clearly dictated by the mayor and is a form of favouritism. It’s not fair,” he said.
But Mayor Laxale said any suggestion of him employing favouritism on the panel was false.
He added that ultimately all councillors would get to vote on the recommendation made by the panel.
“There’s ample opportunity for councillors to participate. Ultimately it’s not made by me or the panel, it’s made by all councillors,” Cr Laxale said.
“The panel acts independently and it makes a recommendation that council can accept, amend or ignore.”
The Labor mayor said the last panel he picked was diverse and consisted of an Independent, Green and Liberal councillor as well as himself.
Ryde Council’s general manager last year reportedly got a 12.5 per cent increase in his pay. It is understood that comprised of a 10 per cent increase from council on top of a 2.5 per cent increase allocated for all public servants.
A spokesman for the Office of Local Government said, “This approach is not consistent with the guidance provided by the Office of Local Government (OLG) which reflects best practice.”
Council was required to maintain “effective oversight” of the general manager’s performance through the performance review process, according to the spokesman.
“It is noted that in the case of Ryde City Council, the performance review panel only makes a non-binding recommendation and the final decision rests with the full council.”