MCC First few Months of new Council

MCC Councillor Training

First few Months of new 2022 forward MidCoast Council Blog #

The first few months of this council that will sit until September 2024 is crucial. It will set the tone and basis for the MidCoast claiming its place in NSW. The eleven (11) Councillors must use this time to serve the community.

Meeting Schedule 2022

Late last year the Administration put forward a meeting schedule. This can be altered by the new Council for the remainder of 2022. I expect the the new Council will alter this suggestion. Hence I have not published

Office bearers election and committee(s)

The 12 January 2022 meeting will go ahead as this meeting is for swear in, the election of Mayor and Deputy Mayor. This meeting must be held within x days of the declaration of the elected councillors, Generally the statutory committee positions would be filed at this meeting.

Audit and Risk Committee

I expect that the candidates to fill the two (2) independent positions on the Audit and Risk Committee are presented. A decision is needed on whom will join the two (2) councillor nominations to make the five (5) who will sit on this committee.

We have several Councillors in the new Council with vast financial and/or governance and/or risk management experience. These are key appointments during the crises that MCC is currently experiencing. This committee will have a huge workload. We have a new LG Minister and maybe it is not too late to provide input to the OLG suggested function of the Audit and Risk for all NSW LGA’s. I would like to see added for want of a better term a community member. This would see the committee with 6 members with the independent Chairman a casting vote in the event of a deadlock. It does not need to be an extension of numbers we could stay with 5. We are blessed with many residents, mostly now retired, who have a wealth of experience in financial oversight and risk.

Date from becoming a councillor till first couple of full Council meetings

This is a crucial time, as training as to what it really means to be a councillor is provided. We do have some councillors who have been on Council from the previous MCC election (6). There are Councillors who have served on a council previously (at least 1). We have first time Councillors. There will be ongoing training for Councillors. I would look well on the publishing of the training being provided and a report on who attended. All 11 councillors need to attend all training!

There are a number of decisions pending for Council. Some have been carried over from the previous Council, some new issues would have been having officers reports prepared. Let’s hope the GM’s agenda for the first full Council meeting is not loaded. All Councillors need time to adjust and understand the operation of local government. There will be many complex issues placed on the agenda these need time and questioning to understand fully prior to any decision.

The new Council must have some time to have several planning sessions. This is necessary to set the tone for what the community have told them. It also enables the Council to issue clear instructions to the GM as to what they expect the direction of this Council will take. Early in the life of this Council a timeline of actions they will be undertaking could be tabled at a Council meeting. This Council has a lot of work and it will need to be carried out at a frantic pace. MCC is in crises and the community elected leaders must steer this organisation out and improve all aspects of the operation of this LGA.

21/12/21