1. How has the transition from community member to Councillor been?

Cr Rose: The Council is a bit of a mystery. When the structure was simpler and the region was not amalgamated, it was easier to access information and know where to go and what to do.

It’s felt like since the amalgamation, it’s become harder to know where to access information, what to do and where to go.

I’ve come into Council with a lot of knowledge of what I’ve been able to read.

Some of the problems outlined by the community is its responsiveness, and it is no secret that Council has had a very bad perception by the community over the past few years.

In fact, the feedback continues to be bad from the community about Council’s performance.

Having been a Councillor for the past few months now, I have recognised the big challenges, and just how complicated the ‘puzzle’ can be.

It has been difficult to understand all the moving parts within a Council and having been thrown in the deep end from the beginning, I have been researching, gathering information, reading relevant documents, and getting my head around all of it as best as possible.

However, the heart of the story in Council is a simply one, Councils are there to enable a community to achieve the outcomes it needs.

We, as Councillors, need to understand what the community priorities are and then how to go about achieving those without the added bureaucracy.

Cr Elliott: I ran for Council because I wanted to help serve our community.

I am retired and have the time to commit to it. I wanted to do something good for Jindabyne, as well as representing the entire region.

I’m discovering that all the rules and regulations, codes of conducts and everything else can have such an impact on decision making.

I’d like to see people proud of their local council and while many staff working there have a ‘can-do’ attitude, there are a huge number of regulations that keep slowing down actions when problems arise. This can leave many locals feeling disappointed in their Council’s perceived inactivity.

As a new Councillor, it is like starting a whole new career.

I find you can make a difference to people’s lives and it’s very satisfying if I can help solve people’s problems.

My priority as a Councillor is to improve the Council’s response to its community.

2. What are your thoughts on the Performance Improvement Order (PIO) imposed on Council by the Minister of Local Government?

Cr Rose: Being one of the first to write to the Minister, my view is that it is unnecessary.

With a focus largely on one Councillor, with some allegations unsubstantiated, it is natural that a new group of Councillors process the information given.

It is the old saying, the group forms, then it storms and then it performs, it has been blown out of proportion and we will be more efficient with time.

I understand the intent of the Local Government Act and the improvement order is simple. The Minister wants to see a more functional Council where perhaps there’s less difficulties in meetings and so forth.

I believe the meetings have been gradually getting better, and while there are occasional breakouts ultimately, it’s up to the chair of the meeting, the mayor, to deal with these challenges in an effective way too.

Cr Elliott: I agree with Cr Rose that the PIO was issued hastily, especially taking into consideration our general manager resigned at the beginning of our term and we have three brand new Councillors who hadn’t received the proper training or briefings on the function of council.

In terms of the conduct in the Council chambers, we’re all ultimately responsible for that. But with regards to the length of meetings, what’s too long? They are as long as they need to be to discuss the issues. If we didn’t look at issues in an exhaustive way, then the community would have the right to say, well, you didn’t exhaust all arguments before deciding.

3. Will you sign the declaration of the PIO?

Cr Elliott: Yes, I have. I am honouring my oath of office to follow the code of conduct and code of meeting practice.

Cr Rose: The issue isn’t whether Councillors will sign the performance improvement order, the issue is compliance with the Minister’s requests.

And the Minister’s requests really focus on the model code of conduct and the Local Government Act. The issue is whether Councillors will comply with the code of conduct and the Local Government Act.

Nick and I, along with other Councillors, took a formal oath to comply with all the codes of conduct and the act.

Under the act, the Minister had the option of acting against a particular Councillor rather than the whole of the Council and he has chosen not to do that for whatever reason.

To make the meetings run more smoothly without interruption from other Councillors, the Chair needs to be responsible for keeping order.

4. When it comes to transparency and accountability, what are your thoughts on the new Council’s performance in the area?

Cr Rose: This is a key issue amongst many Councils and unfortunately it seems this is the nature of the beast.

We want a Council that is transparent and accountable, and that is not often what you see or what we get.

There are many instances where information is with-held, lost, and where motions are passed but no action is taken and often there are no consequences for that failure. This problem goes back well before the current Council.

I think there’s a natural problem of transparency and accountability and I think it’s a system problem, it’s not an individual problem, it’s a problem of all Councils in general.

Cr Elliott: I came into this with an open mind and wanting to be transparent and accountable to our community, which I believe I have shown to my fellow Councillors when voicing my concerns.

Ultimately, actions speak louder than words and I have been disappointed in the instances where I believe some other Councillors haven’t upheld this commitment to transparency and being accountable.

I am listening to my community and doing what I can as a Councillor to rectify their issues and concerns.

I’m also trying to educate people who have a complaint to go through the right system, where it can be recorded and actioned.

This also then creates a record for councillors to follow up when the community isn’t being heard.

5. As Councillors representing the region but based in Jindabyne, what affect, or change do you hope to have in Jindabyne?

Cr Elliott: I will continue to work closely with the Regional Growth Development Corporation on the Snowy Mountains SAP, with plans underway to get the Jindabyne foreshore up to a standard the community deserves.

With further government funding soon to come, improvements will also be made to the Claypits. I will follow the plans closely and see where Council can be involved to support these.

Unfortunately, the significant cut to the SAP funding has left many projects in limbo, including the town centre toilet blocks which are in a disgusting state.

It needs to be done urgently and Council needs to get these small projects underway.

We need to also look at how Council can help grow tourism in Jindabyne. Now that the mayor is on the Tourism Snowy Mountains board, I think that’s a good start.

We have got to look at where we can create efficiencies and eliminate duplication to be able to put money into promoting the Snowy Mountains brand better.

I’d like to see the Council work to better promote agriculture as an industry for the region.

I think it’s important for our whole region that we acknowledge that education is a big industry here, and I think there is a need for Council to work with the sectors to enable a better responsiveness between the community, Council, and the schools.

I think Council needs to be more active in those three industries.

Cr Rose: It was a big priority of the previous government to inject $400 million into the Snowy Mountains SAP project, and then a new government came in and cut the sum of money provided in half, which I think was a bit of a shock to everyone, and it obviously changed the whole priorities.

Nick and I were very impressed with the Regional Growth and Development Corporation that presented to Council in December, explaining the plan moving forward for the projects to be delivered to Jindabyne.

It is very heartening to see that there is a great deal of additional money being spent on doing something significant in our area. We hope that that’s going to make a great difference to the local community and tourism, and we think it will.

6. Final comments

Cr Elliott: I’ve enjoyed being a Councillor so far and representing my community.

I’ve been fortunate to form a friendship with the other Jindabyne councillor Reuben.

It’s nice to be able to work with a like-minded Councillor.

While we think differently, we have got similar values, and have both enjoyed doing something for our community.

I would have thought once upon a time, two 70-year-olds on council would be scrutinised for being too old.

However, we have the time to be able to do the job, and we hope to do it well and represent the community to the best of our ability.

Cr Rose: As a Councillor, I believe one of the most important roles is to give accountability in relation to expenditure.

The easiest thing for Councils to do when facing financial hardship is to keep on raising Council rates, but we want that to stop.

A Councillor’s job is to oversee and make sure that expenditure is appropriate and, Nick and I intend to very carefully oversee the funds for expenditure. We understand each one of those dollars comes out of rate payers’ pockets.

We want to see the best use of funds for the benefit of rate payers, and make sure that those funds are being spent properly.

That’s one of the biggest priorities for me.