Cassowary Coast Mayor Teresa Millwood to move ‘mayoral powers’ motion at LGAQ conference
A Queensland mayor “not afraid” to show a bit of stick to the public servants in her administration is preparing a motion to give elected leaders their “powers back” to reel in bureaucracy.
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A Far North mayor “not afraid” to show a bit of stick to the public servants in her administration is preparing a motion to give elected leaders their “powers back” in a bid to reel in tedious departmental procedures.
Cassowary Coast Regional Council first-term Mayor Teresa Millwood will be moving a motion at the October Local Government Association of Queensland Annual Conference, effectively calling for “a return of mayoral powers”.
Cr Millwood said the powers were revoked in 2012, but if returned, would allow her to direct council directors and management, without the chief executive’s intervention.
“A mayor should have the power to direct those that are managing their administration, given the mayor is responsible for the greater good of the community, and the mayor is put there by the community; not the CEO or the directors,” she said.
“I want to be able to go to my departments directly and say ‘right this project is overdue, what’s going on, or we’re over budget here, what are you going to do about it’.
“At the end of the day the ratepayers hold us to account, so we need to hold public servants to account.”
Cr Millwood said she had discussed the motion with other mayors but wasn’t sure if they fully “understood it” or rather, were comfortable “hiding” behind “the shield of bureaucracy” when confronted with matters of public importance.
“You put your hand up to be the leader, and if you’re the leader it’s up to you to set the strategic direction of how your council is going to move forward and if you’re not brave enough to do that, why are you there in the first place?”
Her vision for reducing red tape began at a grassroots level with the council recently adopting a policy which simplified the process for residents wanting to make alterations to the verges outside properties.
“The process before was you had to go in and go through systems and processes and it took weeks and months, just to plant a tree or put a rock out the front. Now it’s a simple form, you ask a questions and get a ‘yes or no’.”
She said other onerous examples included emptying bins in public spaces and filling in potholes.
“You can’t just ring up the team and say ‘hey guys can you go down and pick that up’,” she explained.
“I or the councillor instead has to contact the CEO, then the CEO has to decide how are we going to manage that, are we going send someone from our team, do we contact the contractor, weigh up all the options. It’s emptying a bin, it should be simple.”
Cr Millwood acknowledged she “had a good working relationship” with the CCRC chief executive and administration and said the “tedious” processes “would be frustrating for everyone,” including council officers.
She noted she her call for mayoral powers might not be received easily, but she was “not afraid” after a “rough year” which has included the death of her father and a battle with cancer.
Local government minister Meaghan Scanlon was contacted for comment.
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Originally published as Cassowary Coast Mayor Teresa Millwood to move ‘mayoral powers’ motion at LGAQ conference
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