By Violet Li
Casey ratepayers are concerned about the loss of transparency after a new rule has been recently passed that requires the compulsory presence at the 4pm Council meetings for public question submitters.
The new rule that was endorsed at June’s council meeting led to only two out of 14 questions being read and answered at July’s meeting last week.
Casey local Michelle Crowther submitted a follow-up question on the Maternal & Child Health Service and she received a four-hour notice on the compulsory attendance.
“If I didn’t attend in person, they weren’t going to answer the question publicly,” she said.
“I feel the change in requirements for the public to attend council meetings impacts people who are working or have family commitments.
“I was lucky that I could juggle my work and family commitments, but this might not be possible for everyone.
“Only two of the 14 public questions were answered publicly at this week’s meeting. This reduces transparency and reduces Casey residents’ ability to influence local issues.”
Casey Council proposed the new item in its Governance Rules at the April meeting this year.
“Any person who submits a public question will need to be in the gallery at the time the question and response is due to be read, except if it is determined to hold a Council Meeting in a virtual setting,” it states.
“If the person is not in the gallery, the Chair will not read the question and response, however, will note that the question will be recorded in the minutes of the Council Meeting, together with a copy of the written response.”
Two submissions were recorded in June’s meeting after the four-week public exhibition.
One of the submitters found the new rule confusing.
They suggested the rule be amended to avoid confusion and ambiguity to say that the Chair would read the question and response, however, would note that the question would be recorded in the minutes of the Council Meeting, together with a copy of the written response, if the submitter was not in the gallery.
Council officers then made an amendment based on the comment.
“Officers have made a minor amendment to Rule 65.11 reflecting that a person must be in the gallery, rather than stating needs to be, for clarity,” the June council meeting agenda noted.
Another local Anthony Tassone, who submitted two questions, did not receive any notice before the meeting. His questions were not read and answered at the meeting.
People’s lives don’t revolve around the schedule of council meetings being on the third Tuesday of the month at 4pm. They have everyday issues that are important to them,” he said.
“It’s a great initiative to have the ability to submit questions online to the council for consideration but having a requirement that they be present for the meeting itself is an unnecessary barrier.
“It will have a consequence of potentially fewer questions being considered by ratepayers, then that’s not what we want.”
Narre Warren local Stephen Matulec submitted a petition with about 250 signatures to Casey last year to request a change of Council’s meeting times from 4pm.
The petition did not take effect.
He was told that residents could watch the meetings online at 4pm.
“People who watch the livestream or recordings of the meeting also cannot have their questions answered, as they need to be in the gallery. This also contradicts what the administrators said when reviewing the meeting times when we discussed last time,” he said.
“One of the reasons given for not having a later start time was that people could watch remotely or watch the replay, but now people who watch remotely or watch the replay cannot even ask a question.
“How can they encourage people to watch remotely if they are now making in-person attendance mandatory for questions?”
When contacted, City of Casey head of corporate governance Michelle Tipton said many councils included a provision within their Governance Rules for the submitter to be present in the gallery at the time the question was read.
“Casey’s Governance Rules state if a person is present in the gallery, the question and response would be read, which is then reflected in the Minutes of that Council Meeting,” she said.
“Where a person is not present, the question is not read, however, both the question and response are included in the Minutes of that Council Meeting. Council will also introduce a practice of providing the link of the Minutes to the public question time submitter.
“Casey’s Governance Rules were endorsed by the Council at its meeting in June 2024. The Governance Rules were subject to community consultation, with details of the changes and the proposed Governance Rules advertised on Casey Conversations for a period of four weeks.
“Those who submitted the public questions for the Council Meeting on Tuesday 16 July, were informed in writing that they would need to be present. They were also informed that if they could not attend, they could nominate a proxy to attend on their behalf.”
