Editorial: We have right to a review  

RATEPAYERS across Melbourne have a view about how much their council chief executive is paid. It is one of those perennial topics that takes on a particular pungency when rates go up. Now, one council has decided to approach the State Government to review CEOs’ salaries. 

The decision by Hobsons Bay Council sets up a debate about what constitutes a fair deal for those nonelected officials who run our councils. It seems contrary at best that Melbourne City Council’s CEO package of between $360,000 and $379,999 is more than either the prime minister or premier’s wage.

The average council CEO’s salary package is about $307,000, up almost $40,000 in four years. 

These are big packages that are designed to ensure councils attract the best people for the job. While most ratepayers understand the sentiment, they would quite rightly argue that capping a salary at even $250,000 is not likely to downgrade the position much at all. At a time when thousands of households are struggling, it is entirely appropriate that CEO salaries be reviewed. 

But to make no attempt to review the generous packages looks like a lost opportunity to help increase council accountability and transparency at the corporate level. 

Letter to the Editor: Wash excuses down drain  

GLEN Eira Council should better represent the needs of our community. The areas of Ormond and McKinnon flooded by storm water on February 4 are known flood areas. Our council should have been more proactive in preventing an inundations of this scale (‘‘Storm devastation’’, Leader, February 8).

If the contention is that Melbourne Water did not upgrade the drainage, why did Glen Eira not advocate more strongly for this to be done? Why did Glen Eira not put the drains in itself? Enough of the cost-shifting excuse. 

Why was the drain over which the Frankston railway line runs not adequately maintained? If this is not directly a Glen Eira responsibility why was it not advocating for this to be done by the responsible authority? Ironically, three days later, council contractors were blowing grass clippings into the drains just to clog them up again!

People’s lives and livelihoods have been severely impacted by this extreme event the scale of which could have been prevented with a more proactive council.

We need a council that is less obsessed with cost shifting and more interested in representing the needs of the community that it is supposed to represent.  Further, our council needs to remember that Glen Eira’s boundary extends south of North Road.

Item 9.7 – Flooding – Melbourne Water Overlay

We’re told the purpose of this paltry one page report is to “recommend further representations to Melbourne Water to improve drainage in areas susceptible to flooding” – in other words, another example of passing the buck, or the pretence of doing something following last Friday’s disastrous flood and the damaging media in this week’s Leader! The emphases throughout is on ‘MW drains’ and Melbourne Water responsibilities. What is unclear from the included map is where MW responsibility lies and where Council responsibility lies. The SBO came into force in 2002 and since then it appears that all Council has done is “made representations to MW asking it to improve capacity in order to avoid flooding of housing and businesses during intense rainfall.” 

The recommendation is: “That Council make further representations to Melbourne Water and to the Government to improve Melbourne Water main drains to reduce the risk of flooding of housing and businesses”. In other words, more of the same!!

Far too much is left unanswered and unaddressed here. Firstly, how much of the flood damage is due to the drains ‘capacity’ to handle the volume of water, and how much is due to the lack of maintenance by council and its role to clear and clean drains? If the drains were largely free of debris, could much of the flooding have been avoided? Once again we have reports handed down that contain no detail, no facts or figures. All is smoke and mirrors and passing the buck  It is far easier for council to simply lay the blame at the door of Melbourne Water and that’s the end of the story! Yet, on council’s own website there is this notice:

http://www.gleneira.vic.gov.au/Page/Page.asp?Page_Id=222&h=1

The 2008/9 Annual Report tells us that of this 450 km of drains only 30 km were cleaned. And in 2009/10 the huge achievement of 25 km was reached. We figure that at an average rate of 30 km per year, this should take about another 10 years! Again by way of contrast, Bayside has a ‘Drainage Management Strategy’ as well as a ‘Municipal Emergency Recovery Plan’ – all available online. All Glen Eira can tell us is that it will continue to ‘update’ its Municipal Emergency Plan (Item 9.8) and that the ‘Plan is available for Councillors to view in the Councillors’ Room.” As for future ‘action’ – there is this ‘after the horse has bolted’ recommendation – 

“During 2012 the MEMPC plans to develop a flood emergency sub-plan for the MEMP as well as review existing pandemic and heatwave sub plans” 

What’s wrong with 2011? Or does Glen Eira live in the hope that nothing will happen in the next 2 to 3 years that would again reveal the shortcomings of maintenance and emergency planning?

Floods fallout fury in McKinnon

Moorabbin Leader: 16 Feb 11 @ 07:00am by Jessica Bennett

OUTRAGED residents in McKinnon and Ormond have slammed Glen Eira Council’s reaction to flash flooding that has left them homeless and facing a mammoth clean-up.

More than 40 homes were extensively damaged and the streets Station Ave, Murray Rd, Cadby Ave and Wheeler St resembled a war zone when flash flooding hit on February 4.

Twenty-five residents attended a heated meeting with Glen Eira Council last Thursday.

Some were reduced to tears over the extent of their homes’ damage.

“There are fences down, couches and mattresses on the street and rubbish strewn every where,” Cadby Ave resident Fran Harkin said.

Ms Harkin and her husband, Tim, had spent six months renovating their home and were due to move in the day after more than 100m of rain hit the area.

“In the street the water was up to our chests and cars were floating away, ” Mr Harkin said.

“Our house will be uninhabitable for another six months … the damage will be about $150,000-$200,000.”

Residents at the meeting slammed the council’s reaction to the flooding, claiming it was too slow and not co-ordinated.

“No one from council came to see us until Thursday,” Ms Harkin said. “They did not recognise this as an emergency and failed to respond in time.”

Resident Chris Spencer slammed the council’s maintenance of stormwater drains, which he said exacerbated the flooding.

But council engineer Peter Waite said two of the drains were operated by Melbourne Water, which had refused to pay for upgrades.

Mayor Margaret Esakoff admitted the council had not adequately responded to the floods.

“We have relied on a chain of reporting … that feeds down to us and the communication has failed somewhere,” she said.

“We understand this is a devastating time and we will do everything we can to meet the needs of the people whose lives have been turned upside down.”