Is Clover prepared to be answerable?

Is Clover prepared to be answerable?

BY JESSICA HILL

Sydney residents will have the chance to grill Lord Mayor Clover Moore and other councillors on key issues, if the idea of a Q&A proposed by Councillor Christine Forster goes ahead.

Councillor Forster believes her proposal of a short question session at the start of council meetings, would increase government accountability.

“It will allow members of the public to engage with their elected officials to a greater extent and absolutely creates a forum of transparency with regard to government process,” she said.

“It can only be positive that the decisions of council are open to scrutiny by the general public.”

Councillor Jess Scully said Christine Forster hasn’t provided details of the proposal but she doesn’t believe government transparency is a problem for the City of Sydney Council.

“The council itself and its operations are very transparent and very open to the public,” she said.

“I think we are by far one of the most transparent and accessible councils and groups of councillors.”

Councillor Scully said the demand for transparency isn’t coming from the community.

“I haven’t had a single piece of feedback from a member of the community that suggests a lack of accessibility or transparency is an issue in the City of Sydney,” she said.

Labor Councillor, Linda Scott, believes the community would support the proposed Q&A sessions.

“It’s important that elective representatives remain highly accountable to the community and having a sessions where the community can ask questions promotes that,” she said.

The City of Melbourne already implements a Q&A session during council meetings. Residents and the media have the opportunity to ask questions without notice. The Hills Shire Council also has public questions without notice.

Councillor Scully said it was too simplistic to assume a process that is successful for other councils will work for City of Sydney. She also has concerns about the how the Q&A will be run.

Councillor Scully said the current procedure of having questions on notice provides the opportunity for staff to go away and delve deep into detail before delivering a short and measurable response.

“I think we should prioritise accuracy and clarity as much as we value immediacy and transparency. I would much prefer that someone gets the right answer than the quick answer,” she said.

Councillor Forster has also tried to implement the live streaming of City of Sydney Committee meetings in attempt to improve accessibility and transparency. She said these attempts have been met with extreme opposition from the Clover Moore Independent Party.

If the Q&A proposal is successful five minutes will be allocated to public questions at the start of each of the regular committee meetings. The Lord Mayor may elect to answer or refer to the Deputy Chair of the committee or any other Councillor. The question may also be taken on notice and a written response provided in the minutes of the next full council meeting.

Councillor Forster will put her Q&A proposal to vote at the next City of Sydney Council meeting, to be held on the 27th February 2017.

You May Also Like

Comments are closed.