Geelong’s mayoral election (again)

Victorian Local Government Minister Richard Wynne recently tried to shut down the push to get a directly elected mayor for Geelong. The Minister told a room full of city leaders yesterday that the push was not on the state's agenda despite a concerted effort by lobby groups such as the Committee for Geelong.  “I'll have to reiterate we are not considering it,'' Mr Wynne said.  The Minister was asked by Committee for Geelong head Michael Betts whether the state would introduce an elected mayor to break a perceived power vacuum at City Hall.

Mr Wynne said if the serving councillors wanted “continuity with leadership'' they had the ability under the Local Government Act to select a mayor for two years.  Mayors in Geelong have traditionally been selected for one-year terms by fellow councillors.  “And then if they are happy with the performance they can vote them in for another two years,'' he said.

Carrying the can

The Queensland government has been reorganising councils and their businesses for some time now.  Most recently the 10 SEQ councils have given up their water businesses to create three new water utilities.  Prior to that there were a number of Council amalgamations.  Councils apparently believed that the government would underwrite the costs of council amalgamations.  Now it appears that belief was misplaced.  Logan Council (in the south) and Sunshine Coast Council (in the north) are two Councils who have been advised to find the additional costs out of their own budgets.