In allowing officers to exercise full control over sensitive and community oriented issues such as sporting ground allocations, councillors have now found themselves literally between a rock and a hard place – do they support the community or the questionable decision making capacity of officers under delegation? First there was, and continues to be, the farce of the GESAC basketball allocations which resulted in ratepayer funds being wasted on legal advice upon legal advice, and the issue dragging on for 6 months or so. Now we have another instance of dictatorial decision making by the Sports Department (Linda Smith and her master Paul Burke) in their refusal to allow the Ajax footy club to hold a community event to celebrate the 40^th anniversary of the junior footy club on September 1^st.

The outcome is a lengthy so called ‘report’ appearing in this week’s agenda. Once again, it  does not bear any officer’s name and basically seeks to justify the decision to deny Ajax the opportunity to celebrate this anniversary via dissembling, half truths and selective publication of correspondence. We’ve uploaded the report for all to read.

A few salient points need to be made regarding this ‘report’.

• Much is made of seasonal allocation to sporting clubs and the need to submit an expression of interest each year for ground allocations. We question the mentality and efficacy of such a system. Surely all sporting clubs need more than a year’s notice to ensure the growth of their clubs and to facilitate proper planning? Contracts are surely written with caveats that would allow the suspension of leases because of anti-social behaviour so this shouldn’t be an issue?
• Allegations were made at last council meeting that grounds are not for sale to the ‘highest bidder’. Ajax is now accused of entering into a private arrangement with the Caulfield Bears for a ground swap and a financial ‘incentive’ to improve the pavilion facilities. The report states that this disadvantages other clubs and that all pavilion redevelopments are funded by Council. Funnily enough, Council did not seem to have any problems in accepting close to $1,000,000 from Maccabi in order to allow this group to build the Leo Haskin Tennis Pavilion and associated courts. In fact, Maccabi proudly writes –

“Maccabi Victoria Sports Foundation oversaw the fundraising, planning and construction of the Leon Haskin Tennis Centre which opened in February 2008. This state-of-the-art home for the Maccabi Tennis Club features eight Plexicushion courts, a Pavilion and Club Room, providing a fantastic venue which will be a magnet for Jewish tennis players, and will serve the wider Maccabi community and the local community for many years.”

http://www.maccabi.com.au/VIC/Page/259/Sports-and-Social-Facilities.cfm

• The report also goes to great lengths to drag up ancient history on the Caulfield Bears – going as far back as 1999. Apart from being totally irrelevant to what is happening today with this club, and the issue of a community event for one, single day, we just have to wonder: if the club has really been as bad as all this, then why has their tenancy been renewed year after year? Why haven’t they simply been chucked out?

There’s much more that could be said about this report. At the heart of this issue is the question of control. What stands out clearly is that the biggest crime committed by Ajax and the Caulfield Bears is the fact that they got together and worked out a mutually beneficial agreement to the exclusion of the power brokers. God forbid that clubs should be talking to each other and actually sidelining the bureaucrats. That is the ultimate threat to their power base.

We end with this letter received from Ajax which logically and sensibly reveals how slanted and totally irrelevant the officer’s report really is. Councillors, through their temerity and continued blind support of officers, show again and again how they fail to represent their constituents.

“Dear Councillors,

I have read the report supplied by the Council Officers in response to a previous request from an earlier Council Meeting.

Council at its last meeting was considering the reasons for rejection of the request for a Community Day-and the fact that those reasons were not relevant to the actual request for a one day use/hire of a public facility.(Paul Burke’s letter of 27/6/2012)

The Council then requested a report on:

1. The activities or functions that may be displaced by a Community Day, including senior football, being held at Princes Park on September 1,2012

I wish to make the following comments , so that you all have the opportunity to consider both sides, before you make an informed decision whether to allow the AJAX Football Club’s request or reject it.

I will restrict my comments to the only relevant matter- Ajax Football Club’s request to hold a Community Day,at Princes Park, including 2 games of VAFA senior AJAX football to celebrate the 40 years of the existence of the AJAX jnr Football Club, which is a tenant at that facility.

The Officers’ report begins with comments about the facilities at Princes Park-and elsewhere.ie the general aspects of open public space within the Glen Eira Municipality.

We agree that the upgrade of facilities at Princes Park are fantastic, and were done to allow football to be played there.

The Council’s own web site encourages the use and hiring by the public and sporting clubs, of Council-owned Public open spaces and parks-including Princes Park.

Local Parks

No matter what your age, our parks and reserves have something for everyone.

There are plenty of reasons to be out in one of the 67 parks in the municipality — from wide open spaces to shady hollows and playgrounds of all shapes and sizes to attract the young to barbecues that provide a meeting point for families and walking tracks for the more energetic.

Enjoy the flowers, marvel over the exotic trees, relax in a delightful rotunda or simply enjoy the fresh air.

With so much on offer, the recreation opportunities in Glen Eira are almost limitless. Take a look at these great parks and reserves.

The fact that the applicant is a tenant at Albert Park is irrelevant to the request to use/hire Princes Park for one day.Glen Eira Council allow anyone to hire public facilities. (our emphases)

The report then refers to an Agreement between Caulfield Bears and AJAX and then spends several pages on Caulfield Bears/Koornang Park/liquor licences etc etc

There is a financial agreement between two football clubs  One is the Ajax Senior Football Club Inc (“Ajax Seniors”). It has ground allocations at Albert Park, owned by the State Government, and located within the municipality of Port Phillip ……………………………

The agreement would appear to constitute a contingent liability on the part of one club and a contingent asset on the part of the other club and would need to be reflected in the clubs’ financial statements from the time that the agreement came into effect.

There are several other comments made in the report about the Agreement.But Council Officers have not seen the Agreement and it has nothing to do with the request to have a Community Day on 1/9/2012.There is no “contingent asset nor liability” and it is in fact totally irrelevant to the issue currently at hand for Councillors consideration and determination. (our emphases)

The Officers make many implications and assertions that are wrong and irrelevant about the Agreement.The Officers admit they have never seen the said Agreement.So it is wrong for Officers to make comments about an Agreement that :

1-they have not seen

2-that is irrelevant to the request for senior footy to be played on 1/9/2012.

It is critical that Council only considers the relevant matters as regards to 1/9/2012 and a Community Day with senior footy on Princes Park-on one day.Nothing else is at all relevant.Any Agreement between 3rd parties that do not concern Council I believe should not be raised at all nor considered.The officers’ report finally correctly states that the Agreement has no effect on Council processes and decisions.So why is it raised at all? (our emphases)

Princes Park is owned and controlled by Glen Eira Council for the general public.This Community Day request is not about seasonal ground allocations-this request is to have a one day community event to celebrate the 40 year anniversary of the AJAX junior football club, which is in fact a tenant of the Glen Eira Council at Princes Park.The AJAX junior players would have the best possible opportunity to see their senior teams play competitive footy at their own “home” ground on a Saturday, and they could aspire to play for that same club in future years.It is policy of Council to support and encourage junior and senior teams where possible to play from same ground to encourage that pathway.

The report rightly concludes:

5. Recommendations

That Council note that a financial agreement between a Glen Eira based club and a non-Glen Eira based club has not had any effect on Council’s systems of allocation of grounds or improvements to pavilions

So the Agreement does not effect Council’s allocations, systems and decisions.So the Agreement should be totally ignored.

In fact the report clearly does not set out ANY…..

……. activities or functions that may be displaced by a Community Day, including senior football, being held at Princes Park on September 1,2012

There are no activities nor functions displaced by the AJAX Football Club Community day on 1/9/2012 at Princes Park.The Council officers’ own report clearly answers the specific request by Councillors from the previous Council meeting.There are no reasons to reject the request for a Community Day.

So the request should not be rejected nor denied.In fact it should be actively encouraged and supported by Council.

Hence the only fair and reasonable conclusion is that the request to hold a Community Day on 1/9/2012 including 2 senior AJAX Football Club VAFA games should be allowed as no other Club, activity nor functions is displaced-on that day.In fact the majority of the local community would support and encourage this Community Day. (our emphases)

The fact that the proposed game is currently scheduled at Albert Park is irrelevant . Anyone can hire the open public spaces in Glen Eira.

AJAX jnr. Football Club is a tenant of Princes Park.

AJAX jnr.Football Club is celebrating 40 years since it began.

AJAX Football Club is the only Jewish football club.

A large proportion of rate payers in Glen Eira Municipality are Jewish and keenly follow the AJAX football club where their children, family, friends play footy.

The Jewish Orthodox community could walk to the game on Saturday.They can not do that at Albert Park.

The Council encourages the use and hiring of Public open space by any persons-there are no restrictions on hiring of open space for events and functions.There should be no discrimination.

This would be an event that the Jewish community would fully support.The Councillors would be seen by the voting community in a very positive way as Council would be facilitating the use of a state of the art facility, built and improved at substantial public expense for the specific use-football.

No one else is effected.no other activity or function is displaced.

The South Caulfield Cricket club does not need the centre pitch to Mid-October.There is ample time to have ground ready for the cricket season allocation.

This is a simple and straightforward request to celebrate a milestone event-40th anniversary of a tenanted club- on one day that does not effect anyone else.No one is displaced nor disadvantaged.It would be a great and memorable event for the Glen Eira Council.The Council would be paid for hiring of the facility.

We would ensure the facilities are properly cleaned after the event.

The Council web site sets out the guiding values.

Our Organisation

Our guiding values

Community focused, responsive and inclusive

We work to develop a tolerant and caring community, where everyone can feel they belong and participate in the decision-making that leads to achieving the best possible health, safety and lifestyle options within the City.

Accountable and relevant leadership

We consult, listen, and take note of community views to determine its priorities and needs and then acts through open, transparent processes that are financially and environmentally responsible and sustainable. We constantly work to find innovative ways of providing services measured against recognised benchmarks to improve services and set improved standards that will meet tomorrow’s increasing demands.

Community wellbeing

Glen Eira City Council, with an increasingly diverse community, treats all people with respect and dignity, providing equal access for all to services and resources. We operate to identify gaps and lift standards, currently not being met by other community providers or levels of government, within the constraints of its limited resources.

I hope and expect the Council will agree to approve the request as it would be consistent with, the Report provided by the Council Officers, and with the general policies of Council.

If any of the Councillors would like to meet with me to further discuss any matters about this request I am available to come to Council Chambers at mutually convenient times.

Thank you for taking the time to consider both sides.

Yours sincerely,

Almost half of the 2010 Municipal Inspector’s report concerned itself with council ‘minutes’. Councillors were cautioned to ensure that an independent minute taker was present at councillor only meetings; that all minutes include resolutions. The drawback was that there was no ‘breach of the Act’ even though minutes were doctored, changed, amended repeatedly.

Two years later, nothing much has improved in this area. If anything it has got worse. Advisory committees now often come under the umbrella of ‘records of assembly’ so all that is legally required is noting those present, the subjects discussed and if there are any conflict of interest declarations. The Pools Steering Committee is the perfect example of this. Even worse is that a perusal of the records of assembly feature numerous ‘amendments’ and the deletion of phrases. The most frequent advocate for this is Hyams. The Sport & Rec meeting of several years ago is clear testimony to how much is censored and left out.

Then there’s the question of consistency of reporting. The Environment Committee has arguably the most ‘extensive’ minutes, although when a community rep on this committee lamented that the minutes needed to be far more expansive, she was told that minutes aren’t Hansard. In contrast, other committee minutes such as the Pools Steering Committee are lucky to consist of 100 words most of the time. There simply is no consistency, no procedures, and no mechanism within Council’s Local Law Meeting Procedures which ensures full transparency and accountability for all meetings.

One way of doing away with this problem of accurate reporting is simply not to hold any committee meetings. The Finance Committee has been allowed to evaporate, as has the Roads Special Committee, the Racecourse Advisory Committee, the Animal Management Committee, and so on and so on. The latter 2 have not met for over a year we believe.

Such is governance in Glen Eira. Secrecy is all and accountability the poor relation. What minutes are published admittedly do not have to be the equivalent of Hansard, but they must be a truthful and accurate account of what went on. We assert that this principle has been flagrantly abused.

The minutes from last week’s CEO Special Committee have been published. The relevant motion reads:

Crs Magee/Pilling

That the meeting be now closed to members of the public under section 89(2) of the Local Government Act 1989 in order to consider Agenda Item 6.1 which relates to the review of the performance of the Chief Executive Officer and is confidential pursuant to section 89(2)(a) ‘personnel’ and (d) ‘contractual’ of the Local Government Act 1989. 

The MOTION was put and CARRIED unanimously.

Forge and Lipshutz were absent and Penhalluriack obviously excluded. Several observations are necessary:

• Newton’s latest contract officially began in April 2012. Hence less than three months into this new contract we have a performance review? Why? Local Government Victoria recommends one performance appraisal per year. Even if Newton’s contract varies these terms, it is still most unusual to conduct this appraisal so early into a new contract. We surmise that these tactics are due to the upcoming election and the real possibility of a different group of councillors. It would thus make sense to bank some brownie points whilst the gang is still in office.
• It should also be asked why the meeting went ahead when two councillors were absent – leaving only 6 to adjudicate. Surely no catastrophe would have occurred if the meeting was several weeks later when all councillors were present?
• The continued secrecy of this council in all matters dealing with the CEO is unacceptable. Other councils appear to have no problem with making public the performance criteria that is used to assess their CEOs. In Glen Eira, nothing is public. The following links provide clear examples of how other councils choose to operate –

http://www.mornpen.vic.gov.au/Files/CEOPerformanceReviewCriteriaAppointmentReappointment2011.pdf

http://www.portphillip.vic.gov.au/Report_13_-_Chief_Executive_Officer_Annual_Review.pdf  AND http://www.portphillip.vic.gov.au/Report_13-_Attachment_1_-_Achievements_Against_2010-11_Council_Plan.pdf

When salaries of well over $300,000 (PLUS POSSIBLE BONUSES) are paid to individuals, it behoves organisations to ensure full transparency and accountability. Note, we are not suggesting that performance reviews be done under the full glare of public scrutiny. What we are suggesting is that it is imperative that residents know precisely HOW and against what targets performance is assessed.

Before we report on the second ‘whiff of revolution’ regarding sporting allocations, a little background is required. We’ve spoken to quite a few people today trying to get to the bottom of this latest fiasco. Our understanding is: The Ajax Junior Footy Club is about to celebrate 40 years of existence. They wish to play one game at Princes Park in September and also turn this into a ‘community event’ for the wider municipality. It would involve some ground changes with the Caulfield Bears club. They approached the Sports & Rec department of council (Linda Smith who booted the request up to Paul Burke). He refused to accommodate their wishes. There was then the appeal to councillors. We therefore can only assume that the following motion from Tang is a result of this direct lobbying to councillors.

TANG: asked for a report ‘detailing the activities’ that would be put out on September 1^st 2012 and ‘terms of allocations and access including times’ that Caulfield Bears have in Koornang Park for 2011 and another cricket club for ‘the same ground’. He also wanted information on any ‘understanding’ that the two clubs had ‘entered into’ and that the report be ‘presented to the next Ordinary Council Meeting’. Pilling seconded, after a somewhat lengthy delay.

Said that his request ‘tries to bring to a head some significant correspondence which council has been receiving….(from both Ajax & Caulfield Bears). The former want ‘the use of an oval at Princes Park’ to celebrate the 40^th anniversary of the Junior club that ‘already has tenancy at Princes Park’. The Bears meanwhile ‘have been requesting access to the pavilion at Koornang Park’ until midnight on Saturdays to fund raise. Tang said that they claimed that permission had ‘previously been granted’ for such activities. Went on to say that there’s been a reported ‘deal’ between the clubs ‘to leave Princes Park and return to Koornang Park’ and for the seniors to ‘seek an allocation at Princes Park’. Continued that the clubs had changed their ‘representations over time’. Also reported that the Bears were thinking of leaving their ground to meld with their junior club and that they were offered money to ‘upgrade their capital works’….’we need to get to the bottom of it; we need to thrash out these issues’ because ‘I don’t think we should have council facilities available to the highest bidder’. Claimed that they were there for ‘all of the community’. His other reason for requesting the report was that clubs shouldn’t  take matters into their own hands in trying to secure their own best interests since this would ‘affect every activity that they run’. Finished by saying that he hoped that once council got to the bottom of this alleged ‘deal’ that everyone could work productively together. All he wants is to ‘get these facts out into the open’ so that council can ‘deal adequately’ with the requests.

MAGEE:  Said that ‘up until this afternoon’ he didn’t have a problem but now since ‘all this other stuff is coming into it’ (financial offers) it sounds as if Glen Eira is being turned ‘over to the highest bidder’. Didn’t agree with a report but thought that it should be a ‘council investigation’. ‘I’m very very uncomfortable in calling for a report to see what actually happened’. Said that when all this began he would have thought that ‘council would automatically start an enquiry’ or ‘investigation into this’. Worried that ‘money seems to be offered’ and asked ‘how long has this been on the table?’ who is involved or knows about it?  And ‘why have we not been told about this offer?’….’Glen Eira is not open to the highest bidder’. Said that if people wanted an allocation then council has an ‘intricate system’ that helps clubs grow and ‘if they need grounds they get grounds’….’this worries me’….’and I don’t know if calling for a report is the right way’…

LOBO: ‘I’m afraid that the ombudsman has made it clear ……that any allocation of grounds is the responsibility of officers, similar to GESAC allocations’….finished by saying that ‘we need to be very careful and not impinge on the responsibility of the officers’.

ESAKOFF: asked Burke if he thought that the request for the report was ‘interference’?

BURKE: ‘At this stage what I’m hearing is a request for a report’

HYAMS: wanted to ‘clarify’ what Magee said in that as far as he knows no officer, councillor was offered any money. Said that allocations are the responsibility of officers

TANG:  Affirmed Magee’s comments that ‘no, you can’t buy your way into an allocation….it is not uncommon for municipalities to prioritise pavilion upgrades’, where clubs contribute funds. Gave examples of Stonnington and Yarra. In this case the suggestion that ‘capital works upgrade is a Council decision’. Said that when clubs ‘try to get around the allocation system’ and ‘get it wrong’….how does that impact on our community’s enjoyment of facilities’….’what we need to do is get these issues out there….so it can be dealt with quickly…..no allegation …that any allocation went to a club because of financial inducement’. Went on to explain how allocations are done.

MOTION CARRIED WITH LOBO AND MAGEE VOTING AGAINST.

COMMENTS

We find it extraordinary that councillors can get up and claim that ‘you can’t buy your way into an allocation’. We remind readers of the McKinnon Basketball versus the Oakleigh Warriors basketball allocation at GESAC. The minutes of December 14^th 2011, written by Paul Burke, state: “There was a difference of $95,000 pa between the two EOIs.” If that’s not buying your way into allocations, then we don’t know what is!

Lobo’s warning about the ombudsman and the role of officers in sporting allocations is also of concern. Either he has absolutely no understanding of Delegations, or his support for Burke has clouded his judgement. Officers act under delegation given to them via council resolution. All it takes to remove the ombudsman from the equation is a simple resolution along the lines of – ‘all sporting allocations are to be made via formal council resolution’.

This is now the second time that the question of allocations has caused angst out in the community. How many more times will decision making on such important issues be left to officers and councillors find out what is going on when it is far too late?

PS: Evidence that many courts are still standing empty at GESAC was serendipitously supplied by today’s Moorabbin Leader with the following story. Readers should also note that Council has been placing full page colour advertisements to “Enrol” for basketball, futsal, etc. in all local papers, plus the Bayside Leader. If the courts were fully booked, then surely such extravagance is not warranted? The story is below. Again simply click on the picture to enlarge.