NEWS DESK
Cash out as consultants cash in Neil Walker neil@baysidenews.com.au
Spirit of Anzac: Langwarrin Primary School pupils show they care. Lucy, Sarah, Montana, Wil, Abigail, Gabriella and Brent Clyne, of Frankston RSL, show off their decorations. Picture: Gary Sissons
Poppies show Anzac memories live on LANGWARRIN Primary School pupils showed their respect last week ahead of Anzac Day by each making two poppies to decorate the school’s front fence. At a special service at the school, in Warrandyte Rd, Frankston RSL member Brent Clyne explained to the children what happened during WWI, including that young soldiers had to be aged over 18 to enlist: “However, people always lied about their age,� he told them. Mr Clyne showed pupils a video of photographs of the war to help them better understand the
conflict, with the The Last Post playing in the background. Grade 6 pupils Abigail Lane, Montana Phillips and Wil Cleary, and Grade 5 pupils Sarah Nyoak, Gabriella Fowler and Lucy Connor, posed for photographs. “We remembered the soldiers that fought in the war,� principal Nicola Pepper said. “This is our way of showing that we care for the memories. We think it is important that the history of the Anzac continues.�
FEES paid to external consultants by Frankston Council have soared by $500,000 per year without explanation. Former Frankston councillor and mayor Kris Bolam says he is concerned about “wasteful spending� on external consultants at the same time as overall staff pay and costs have risen by $1.5 million per year since council’s 2014 budget. Mr Bolam, mayor in 2011, obtained the information about rising consultancy fees under freedom of information laws. The former councillor said council “is treating the public purse like monopoly money� despite crying poor over state government rate capping. “There is a staff knowledge deficit within the council and the organisation has an overreliance on external consultants while enormous sums are being spent on staff learning and development courses,� he said. Mr Bolam said it had taken several months for council to compile and release the latest breakdown available, according to council, of consultancy fees and staff costs. Figures supplied to Mr Bolam reveal payments to outside consultants jumped from $1.2 million in 2009 to $1.7 million in 2013. The Times has sought an explanation from council for the rising consultancy fees and staff costs for more than a month before publication. Mr Bolam said employee pay, superannuation costs and employee development course fees are “putting an enormous strain on the council budget�. He criticised the “out of touch� salaries awarded to senior staff. Senior management are paid up to $254,000 per year. Council CEO Dennis Hovenden’s annual remuneration was increased by 10 per cent last year to $325,000 (‘Longer stay for CEO under contract plan’, The Times 25/5/15).
Spending concerns: Former mayor Kris Bolam has slammed council over consultancy fees.
Mr Bolam says “a wide-ranging forensic audit of council expenditure� should be carried out and councillors should be regularly notified of consultancy spending by individual council departments. “It is absolutely doable but what is lacking from this council is the necessary leadership and will to make it happen,� Mr Bolam said. Frankston mayor Cr James Dooley has highlighted council’s “prudential financial management� as a factor in keeping overall rate rises for the upcoming 2016-17 financial year under the Labor state government’s mandated rate cap of 2.5 per cent based on inflation.
Silence surrounds conduct hearing Neil Walker neil@baysidenews.com.au RATEPAYERS may foot the bill for an investigation into a councillor’s behaviour without the outcome ever being made public. Frankston Council ducked questions from The Times last week about a Councillor Conduct Panel hearing held earlier this month and declined to confirm whether the hearing, which ultimately could cost ratepayers tens of thousands of dollars, had even taken place. Deputy mayor Cr Colin Hampton was questioned by a Municipal Association of Victoria panel over several hours at Frankston Council’s offices on Friday 8 April. The Times understands the MAV was called in to investigate alleged de-
$5,990 RRP $6,470
rogatory remarks made by Cr Hampton about Cr Darrel Taylor at a public function at Frankston’s The Deck bar in December last year. The function marked the official launch of a marketing campaign to sell apartments in the planned $80 million Allure Bayside building in Davey St. Cr Taylor also appeared as a witness at the panel hearing. Both Cr Hampton and Cr Taylor said they were unable to comment due to Local Government Act regulations on conduct panel hearings. MAV spokeswoman Stephanie O’Brien said the legislated peak body for local government across Victoria takes a purely administrative role in such conduct hearings and the MAV is not told the identity of any councillor being in-
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vestigated before a hearing. The MAV merely provides a list so a two-person panel, featuring a legal and governance expert, can be appointed to hear allegations of councillor misthe conduct. “We don’t actually know when the briefings are held, where they’re held, who attends and what is said,� Ms O’Brien said. Once the panel members complete their report and make a finding on misconduct allegations a report and the decision is sent to the relevant council. “Whether or not they make that public is up to them. Often councils will table it at a council meeting but they may not make it public.� Frankston Council did not respond to repeated requests over several days
from The Times asking for confirmation that the panel hearing took place and the identity of the councillor involved. Council also did not respond to a question asking whether the panel’s report and decision would be publicly released. Frankston Council decided not to renew its MAV membership last year over concerns council had about governance and a lack of transparency at the peak body (‘Frankston stands alone’, The Times 3/8/15). Frankston is the only one of Victoria’s 79 councils to suspend its MAV membership. Darebin ratepayers were hit with a $16,000 bill for a MAV Councillor Conduct Panel hearing last year into the behaviour of two councillors at Darebin Council.
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Frankston Times 25 April 2016
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