Personality conflicts most common cause of breakdown in good local government

23/8/94

An analysis of 16 formal investigations of councils has identified personality conflicts as one of the most common causes of problems which ultimately lead to a breakdown in good local government.

Local Government Minister Paul Omodei said personality conflicts between councillors, between councillors and staff or between councillors and the mayor or president were evident in 11 of the 16 councils formally investigated since 1989.

"When personal animosity becomes entrenched in councils, you see a range of problems including discrimination, poor judgement, lack of control, deceit and low morale," Mr Omodei said.

"Ultimately, the proper functioning of the council deteriorates and in some cases can virtually grind to a halt."

Mr Omodei today released a comprehensive analysis of the 16 inquiries entitled 'Problems to Avoid' which identifies many of the common problems faced by councils.

He urged councillors and staff to read the report so they were aware of potential problems as a first step to avoiding them.

The report notes that while a relatively small number of Western Australia's 142 councils experienced serious and sustained problems, the general reputation of other local governments was in danger of being tarnished by the actions of the few.

While the majority of problems involved no impropriety in a legal sense, they were indicative of either a breakdown in the operation of unbiased, objective government or a breakdown in the public perception of how local government should operate.

Mr Omodei said problems relating to the manner in which council meetings were conducted and the recording of proceedings were also extremely common and could have serious ramifications.

The problems included lack of control at meetings, ambiguous or unclear motions and resolutions, activities being undertaken without councils giving formal authorisation and failure to comply with council resolutions.

"Also notable are the problems caused by lack of minuting.  This can have serious legal repercussions as the minutes of a council meeting provide a historical and legal record of the meeting," he said.

"They should be a true record of what decisions have been made and what action is required to be undertaken by officers, as well as evidence that a council has acted properly, evidence of delegated authority, and a record of pecuniary interest declarations and whether councillors have voted on matters in which they had a pecuniary interest.

"There were many cases where it was difficult, if not impossible, to determine if a councillor or council had acted properly because of a lack of documentation and conflicting accounts from within the council of what actually occurred.

"This makes it difficult for a councillor who has done the right thing to defend his or herself from unfair attack and makes it difficult for the department to investigate allegations where councillors may not have acted properly."

Mr Omodei said Department of Local Government investigators found evidence of minutes being altered and in a number of cases they had been signed by a mayor or president who was not present when the minutes were confirmed and allegedly signed.  In one case the alleged signatory was overseas.

Planning issues, while identified as a problem in only a minority of investigations, nevertheless featured regularly in public inquiries or complaints to the Minister.  When they did occur, they tended to create major problems.

Areas of concern included approvals being given for land uses which were not zoned for, development works commencing prior to approval being given, inconsistent enforcement of development conditions, inappropriate development conditions, lack of public consultation and inconsistent exercising of planning powers.

Mr Omodei said other key problem areas included:

·       a widespread lack of understanding of pecuniary interest requirements of the Local Government Act;

·       problems with budgeting and financial procedures;

·       operational problems, including staffing levels and misunderstanding of the roles and responsibilities of councillors and of staff; and -

·       incorrect or deficient tendering procedures.

The analysis released by Mr Omodei provides examples of where councils have gone wrong in all of these areas and the impact their actions had on the council, on staff and on business people and the community.

Copies of the report will be sent to all councils.

Media contact:  Amanda O'Brien  481 3000