Glen Eira Debates

2006

Joyce Park –  $1,069,000

Princes Park Pavilion – $1,972,000

Caulfield Park – design – $258,000

Bricker Pavilion – $1,782,000

 2007

Marlborough St. Reserve – $235,000

Swimming pools manager – $260,000

Caulfield Pavilion – $3,833,000

Caulfield Landscaping – $1,773,000

Murrumbeena Reserve –   $539,000 

2008 – 2010

Princes Park – Sussex Rd. Carpark – $400,000

Sportsground Lighting – $1,500,000

Duncan McKinnon – $700,000

King George Reserve – $250,000

Koornang Park – $292,000

GESAC – water slides – $568,000

Packer Park – $450,000

Princes Park oval – $600,000

Victory Park Oval – $300,000

GRAND TOTAL  –    $16,781,000.

In the 1998 Walsh report there is this comment:

“In total there are 11 positions at ‘Senior Officer’ level (defined in the Act as packages of more than $70,000 p.a.). Glen Eira’s five neighbouring councils have an average 20 ‘Senior Officer’ positions, one of them as high as 28.”

That was 12 years ago and the population of Glen Eira stood at roughly 118,000. Andrew Newton was Director of Corporate Management then and Jeff Akehurst was Director of City Development. Both have moved up! With Margaret Douglas’ sudden resignation, Newton became CEO. What impact has this had on Glen Eira?

We’ve done some research and discovered some fascinating facts and figures. Our sources are the 2006 census figures, and the 2008/9 Annual Reports from neighbouring, benchmarking Councils. The only variation is that the figure for senior staff for Port Phillip is even more current – ie. 30^th June, 2010 – since they’ve already released their draft Annual Report.

The table we’ve subsequently drawn up reveals several major findings:

• Glen Eira has the highest number of ‘fat cats’ sitting on over $200,000 p.a. compared to the figures released by the other councils. It also has 30 individuals sitting on over $100,00 p.a.

In a time of economic downturn, where most organisations have ‘rationalised’ their staff and wages, Glen Eira appears to have bucked this trend.

So, do we have too many ‘fat cats’? Are residents getting ‘value for money’? More on this in the coming days!

Annual and quarterly reports presented by Council are glowing endorsements of how well this council’s operations function. We are proudly told that phone calls are not only answered in nanoseconds, but that they are ‘resolved’ at first point of call. Wonderful stuff! What we’re not told is exactly how many satisfied customers are out there; nor how many of their issues are resolved to their complete satisfaction. Put simply, we and probably the majority of councillors in the majority of cases, never actually get to find out what residents might be complaining, or congratulating Council about.

We intend to resolve this question. Over the past month we have received a number of comments (not published) that can only be called ‘complaints’. They range from complaints about service delivery, to graffiti, to perceived waste of ratepayers money. We believe that the community has a right to know exactly what residents like and dislike and how well their concerns are being attended to. Hence we’ve decided to set up what we’ve called ‘Residents’ Corner’. A link is provided on the left hand side of the webpage under the heading of ‘Why We’re Here’. All that needs to be done is to click the link (‘Residents’ Corner’) and you may enter your complaint, praise, commentary – either anonymously if you so desire, or you may leave your name. We will then ensure that these comments are passed onto councillors. It then becomes their duty to ensure that not only are your issues seen to and fixed, but that the systems within which they operate are improved and accountable.

We no longer want to be told time and time again that residents are enraptured with how their money is spent. We want cold, hard, evidence that things can, and should be improved. So, we ask readers to alert their friends, neighbours, relatives and let us really know what you think about Glen Eira and its mandate to serve the people. ‘Residents’ Corner’ will thus be a public and accessible archive of Glen Eira’s failings and successes.