Mayor’s Column: Cr Stephanie Asher from the City of Greater Geelong, September 3

Clarification for better communication

AS A RELATIVELY small person, being average female height and on the runty side of body size, I don’t have a strong defence game.

In my five years playing hockey I played left inner, my occasional netball games saw me as centre or wing attack and even my role in baseball as first base or catcher was more about directing traffic than defending against attack.

My husband has traditionally been the reverse given he has significantly broader shoulders than me and is nearly twice my body weight.  His long history in water polo was largely playing centre back and occasional goalkeeper.

As a result, working simultaneously (note I didn’t say together) in our galley kitchen is something of a dance, characterised by me flitting fitfully to find gaps between my husband and anywhere I need to be.

Patient to a fault, my key defender is tested by what he calls my “darting” around somewhat dangerously as I slide between sink, stove and beloved life partner to get things done.

The alternative perspective (mine) is that everywhere I need to be there is a large body obstructing my path. I step forward and so does he. I turn to put the vegetables in the pot as he turns to drop the pasta in the boiling water.

We have learned to give way and move in harmony, but our tendencies remain.

I still find defence an unnatural position. As it is with responding to comments on the perceived activities of the City and the councillor group.

Although some accusations are baseless and facts often twisted to suit an agenda, I’m rarely inclined to retort as I’m conscious that it would simply sound defensive.

I firmly believe everyone is entitled to their opinion and I don’t much worry about armchair critics, sensationalised ‘gotcha moments’ or politicised commentary.

More importantly, I credit the vast majority of people in our beautiful region with the good sense to sift wheat from chaff with the information they gather.

However, there was a publicly promoted submission to our draft Transparency Policy that I felt deserved a response. The submission criticised the Policy, which was considered at Tuesday night’s council meeting.

The points were well articulated and I do want to acknowledge that the Policy represents solid, quality work from our governance team.

And, further to the work by City officers, the current Council has driven a number of key policies and initiatives to improve transparency and fairness, including:

• New guidelines and processes around community grants
• A comprehensive Social Infrastructure Plan for the whole municipality
• A proposed register of developer meetings for councillors and city officers
• Unprecedented high level of community consultation during the last three years
• Twice the number of public council meetings to previous councils
• Introducing livestreamed meetings
• Extension of multiple engagement periods in response to feedback and COVID-19 restrictions
• Significant reduction in number of confidential items at meetings.

I’m limited by word count to add more examples, but there is no question this is a community-focused Council with the majority, if not all, councillors supporting greater transparency.

It is hugely valuable to receive feedback and I thank Jenny Wills for her submission and ongoing passion and interest in Geelong’s local government.

The governance team’s response to the submission is available on the City of Greater Geelong website in the meeting minutes.

In the submission, the definition of the City as the “organisation led by the CEO” was disputed.

This is an interesting point and something the communications officers are working to make clearer.

The governance team is clear that ‘the City’ describes the organisation throughout this policy. This is also the definition widely used by City employees and by councillors.

However, among the community, in the media, and even with local MPs, there is frequent interchange with the term ‘Council’ and ‘City’ and some confusion about roles.

The Council and the City are not one and the same. It is a nuanced but important distinction.

The Council comprises elected officials. Councillors are not employees and not included in the organisation as such.

The Local Government Act prohibits councillors from directing operational matters, so we are not privy to day to day operational detail unless it’s a chamber matter or responding to a customer request.

The City is the organisation, with operational activities unquestionably led by the CEO.

There is definitely no need to defend against healthy feedback, however responding for clarification and noting the need for better communication can be helpful.