A previous post concentrated on the fact that numerous other Councils appear to have no qualms in making public their Staff Code of Conduct. In Glen Eira everything is under wraps. Why? What is there to be gained by such practices? Perhaps a better question is: What is there to hide? What could be so ‘private’ that ratepayers have no idea as to the protocols, values, and mechanisms that they are paying for. We’ve continually harped on the fact that in terms of transparency and accountability Glen Eira appears to fall well below the mark of its neighbouring and benchmark councils. Is this ‘ethical’; is this the kind of behaviour that residents are willing to put up with?
Here are some examples to illustrate our point. Please note how ETHICS is highlighted in the following councils’ Codes of Conduct. We’ve linked some of these documents so that residents may read them for themselves.
“Kingston is a major metropolitan Council for whom ethics and business conduct is a key requirement. We care about obtaining good results for our community and care equally about how those results are achieved. The CEO must also exercise delegated powers in ways consistent with previously established guidance or direction from the Council.
The Guide recognises Council’s duties, responsibilities and community aims and values. It describes what is needed from us all to keep the good faith and trust of Council and its many stakeholders, and is based on what we value most:
Honesty and Integrity – Doing what we say we will do.
The spirit and letter of the law and all relevant legislation will be obeyed.
Unless you are authorised to do so, do not use Council resources or staff services for private purposes.
BAYSIDE
“The purpose of this guideline is to assist all Bayside staff in the maintenance of ethical standards of professional integrity and conduct….
Accountability at Bayside means we are mutually accountable and take responsibility for our actions, behaviours and results. It is: meeting promises/commitments; managing expectations; admitting mistakes; providing leadership.”
Achievement at Bayside means that we are motivated to succeed through service by making a contribution to our community using our unique skills and abilities, and being recognised for what we achieved.”
The way we work is to: always welcome the opinions of the community. Accept the differences in members of the team and the community and welcome their contributions
No council materials should be used for non council purposes.”
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So we ask – how similar or different is the Glen Eira policy? Does it highlight ethics? Community? Service? Overall values? If the Councillors’ Code of Conduct is freely available, then we maintain that the Staff Code of Conduct should be equally transparent and visible. How else can the community judge officers’ performance if they have no ratified gauge against which to evaluate such performance?
Glen Eira Debates 
March 8, 2011 at 11:15 AM
Codes of conduct are nothing more than useless window dressing. Burke’s rudeness and Lipshutz’s continual rants are let go without any condemnation by any of them. This isn’t ethics, it’s simply good manners and courtesy. Codes of conduct without real teeth are a waste of time. Leaving Newton to judge Burke is also a total waste of time. Bet he gets continual pats on the back for doing all of Newton’s dirty work. It’s a rotten, rotten place and no code of conduct will change things. What will, is to get rid of all these buggers.
March 8, 2011 at 11:54 AM
What’s good for the goose should be good for the gander. Councillors expenses are published. Would love to see how much of my dough has been spent by employees – especially Newton and Burke. Bet yas that there’s squillions there.
March 8, 2011 at 7:41 PM
Yes, I would be curious to find out expenses of Officers. But I think Smart Aleck will be disappointed if he thinks that Officers spend squillions or anything not legal. For one thing they operate under a different set of State Government guidelines as to allowable expenses. I suggest that you get your info straight and find out from MAV what are the terms & conditions of use. You may be surprised!
March 8, 2011 at 10:32 PM
Don’t care about what’s legal. Care about what the reality is in Glen Eira. From the quotes in the post Bayside and Kingston have firm policies about what is permissable private use. How about this council – what happens to fleet cars at night. Are they taken home by staff? Then there’s also the mobile phones and even if one or two private calls are made a day by a handful of people this adds up to a huge amount over the year. We’re paying for this so there should be a public account of how much this kind of stuff costs us. There are plenty of lurks and perks that I’m sure they all probably get up to. Councillors have to ‘come clean’ so should Newton, Burke and all the others.