In our last post we listed the ‘requests for reports’ which were still outstanding. One of these was the Lipshutz/Whiteside motion –

“That a report be prepared as to the Council depot in Caulfield Park being removed from Caulfield Park to another location in or out of the City (16th October, 2007)”.

Not only has no report ever made an appearance, but the depot still stands in the middle of Caulfield Park!  Worse still is found in the minutes of 7th April 2010 – that is, just  on 2 and a half years later, when Mr. Jack Campbell, OBE asked the following  public question –

“Could  you please report the result of the investigation requested by Cr. Lipshutz into an  alternative site for the ‘Works Depot’ currently located in the Crown Land of  Caulfield Park and what action is planned to re-locate this Depot and when is it planned that this will occur.”

The response read: “The outcome of the investigation was reported on page 52 of Council’s 2008/09 Annual Report. A suitable alternative  site that meets Council’s requirements has not been found. Councillors remain committed to continuing the search for an appropriate site.”

We  wish to note several things here:

• As per usual, parts of Mr.  Campbell’s question remain unanswered.
• The depot has not been  moved, no report has been tabled (as admitted by this response) and like the mulch site ‘searches’ seem to take forever until they evaporate from the public consciousness!

When one actually goes to page 52 of  the 2008/9 Annual Report we find this:

“Comment: Investigation covered the need for some permanent park  maintenance facilities; the inclusion during 2009 of water tanks and  infrastructure to supply recycled water to the park via drip irrigation; and the scarcity of alternative sites within Glen Eira. Options to minimise the area required are being considered further”.

QUESTIONS

• Where is the report? Why hasn’t it been tabled?
• Why four years on is the depot still at Caulfield Park?
• Why wasn’t Mr Campbell’s question answered fully?
• Why shouldn’t residents believe that such inaction and responses are not in the interests of full transparency, accountability and/or good governance?

“As can be seen, reports are regularly requested. They are submitted promptly – usually  to the immediately following Council Meeting”. (6^th  June 2011). Thus wrote Andrew Newton on why Notices of Motion are not required  in Glen Eira.

The  Local Government Act, mandates that it is the duty of a CEO to provide council with ‘timely’ advice. Further, he/she is bound to carry out council resolutions expeditiously. This does not appear to have been happening in Glen Eira. We have had discussions with the Victorian Local Governance Association who have informed us that Requests for Reports that become council Resolutions must be tabled at ordinary council meetings. We have also taken the trouble of going  through the minutes of the past 5 years in order to determine:

• Why successfully passed resolutions for ‘requests for reports’ have NOT been tabled at Council meetings as required, and
• How long has it taken for those reports which were tabled to be produced?

Our results on the first question are listed below. We have included the dates that the resolution was passed at council. We ask readers to make up their own minds as to how well this administration has acted in accordance with the requirements of the Local Government Act. We also ask why no councillors appear to have demanded that these outstanding reports be tabled, nor have they requested any explanation for their non-appearance.

Requests for Reports which WERE NEVER TABLED

Crs Staikos/Robilliard

That a report be prepared  documenting a recent incident at the Duncan Mackinnon Reserve Pavillion in which  it is alleged that a group of people entered the pavillion while unauthorised.  That this report document all correspondence related to this issue to date. (16^th  October, 2006)

Crs Tang/Feldman

That a report be prepared detailing expenditure and programs directed to the Glen Huntly commercial area over the last five years. The report should also include a comparison to the total expenditure directed to Glen Eira shopping precincts in each of those years. (4^TH September, 2007)

Crs Lipshutz/Whiteside

That a report be prepared as to the Council depot in Caulfield Park being removed from Caulfield Park to another location in or out of the City (16^th October, 2007)

Crs Staikos/Robilliard

That a report be prepared on the operation of Village Committees in the City of Kingston. (27^th  November, 2007)

Crs Staikos/Robilliard

That a report be prepared on the feasibility of introducing a ban on the sale of ‘silly string’ in conjunction with a ban on spray cans. (18^th December, 2007)

Crs Spaulding/Staikos

That a report be prepared into missing sports in Glen Eira, sports clubs that are wholly or in part required to relocate because of a lack of Council facilities within our municipality and within this report the administration to investigate the development of sporting facilities also in partnership with commercial entities and in particular but not limited to Moorleigh Reserve. (5^th February, 2008)

Crs Staikos/Robilliard

That a report be prepared investigating ways of expanding Council’s Australia Day celebrations. (5^th  February, 2008)

Crs Staikos/Spaulding

That a report be prepared about possible improvements to Mackie Road Reserve including, but not limited to: walking path; birdie cage; playground and barbeque area improvements; and the disused land on Orange Street. (29^th April, 2008)

Cr Whiteside/Spaulding

That a report be prepared on the status of the draft heritage guidelines such report to include recommendations for best practices to strengthen these guidelines so as to maintain consistency in our heritage areas. (29^th April, 2008)

Crs Staikos/Spaulding

That a report be prepared on the provision of bus stop infrastructure in the City of Glen Eira (20^th  May, 2008)

Crs Staikos/Magee

That a report be prepared on the granting of Tucker Ward funds to Bentleigh Recreation Tennis Club for the purchase and installation of a water tank. (15^th December, 2008)

Crs Magee/Tang

That a report be prepared on the Foundation for Youth Excellence in regard to the eligibility criteria and guidelines. (17^th March, 2009)

Crs Magee/Hyams

That a report be prepared on the feasibility of relocating the two tennis courts on Mackie Reserve in East Bentleigh to 31 Orange Street in East Bentleigh. (1^st  September, 2009)

Crs  Penhalluriack/Esakoff

That a report be prepared into the tree clearance requirements under the Electricity Safety (Electric Line Clearance) Regulations 2010; documenting the typical effect on trees in Glen Eira if the regulations are enforced; documenting the estimated cost of  implementing the tree clearance requirements; documenting the number of trees likely to be removed as a result of the requirements; and providing guidance as to whether Council could seek an exemption from applying the regulations. (3^rd
November, 2010)

Cr  Tang/Esakoff

(i)  That Council prepare a report detailing the costs and feasibility of reinstalling the free mulch service previously provided at the former Council depot, then Caulfield Park and then most recently at Glen Huntly Reserve Car Park at another site in Glen Eira. (ii) The report should consider the adoption of all recommendations the Environmental Health Assessment completed in February 2011. (17^th May, 2011)

Share options bounced at Glen Eira basketball centre

18 Oct 11 @  07:30am by Jenny Ling

For those who may not know the works of Kafka, we strongly recommend The Trial & The Castle. In their own way both chronicle the crazy, manipulative world of bureaucracy gone mad. Events of this afternoon in Council Offices would fit very nicely into the nightmarish world of Kafka. Below is the chronology of these events:

• Cr Penhalluriack had written to Mayor Esakoff informing her that he wished to inspect the Register of Interests and his own Personnel File as every resident is entitled to do under the Local Government Act and the Information Privacy Act. That he would come to the reception desk to pick up the documents. No response was forthcoming from Esakoff.
• Penhalluriack arrived at the prescribed time last week only to be informed that the documents were not available since he  had not filled out the required form. This was then filled out and this afternoon’s ‘Pick up’ time was again transmitted to Mayor Esakoff in writing.
• Penhalluriack invited a resident to accompany him as a witness
• Upon arrival the Operational Manager of Civic Compliance met both at the Reception desk and invited them into a separate room where Council’s Privacy Officer (Rachel Kenyon) was waiting.
• Following introductions, the resident witness was informed that the Register of Interests was only available to Cr.  Penhalluriack since the required form was not filled out by the resident.
• Kenyon informed the group that the documents were available for inspection only until 4pm (arrival at the offices had been  shortly after 3pm). When questioned as to whether there is a time limit on ‘inspection’ Kenyon responded that that is when she finished work and that if more time is required then another request, and appointment must be made – and presumably another form filled out!
• When Penhalluriack asked some general questions of Kenyon her reply was that she was there to ‘discharge her duties under the Local Government Act and NOT TO COMMUNICATE’ and that all questions be forwarded in writing to Paul Burke. The resident then asked whether the Local Government Act also forbade ‘communication’? No answer!
• Penhalluriack then stated that he had been directed to forward all requests via the Mayor and that he had complied with  this. He then asked Kenyon whether she believed he was bullying or harassing her. The response – ‘No comment’.
• Penhalluriack inspected the register and took notes. Upon completion he requested to see his Personnel File. Kenyon responded that she knows nothing about this and that the matter be taken up with Paul Burke. Penhalluriack then wanted to know if the Mayor was available. Kenyon left the room to check. She returned shortly after and informed everyone that  the ‘Mayor was busy’. The meeting then concluded.

COMMENT

Council officers are there to do the bidding of councillors and not the other way around. These events are inexcusable – legally, morally, and socially. Every resident has the right to be informed (and inspect) the information that council has collected about them, as well as to inspect the Register of Interests. If councillors can be treated in this obnoxious and deliberately obstructive fashion, then what does it say about the potential treatment of ordinary citizens? Esakoff’s seeming complicity in these events also deserve the spotlight.