Mr Jim Levy
General Manager 7 April 2005
Eurobodalla Shire Council
PO Box 99 MORUYA 2537

Re. Code of Meeting Practice ref no. 81.0117

Dear Jim,

Coastwatchers has previously written to you and the Mayor regarding our concerns over the issue of conflict of interest and Councillors' conduct. Although the model Code of Conduct as adopted by Council declares that political donations do not give rise to a conflict of interest we are strongly of the view that this is not the case in reality. More importantly the general public would agree with Coastwatchers on this subject.

The Code of Conduct talks about reasonable perceptions of conflicts. The legal argument of reasonableness could be applied in this instance. This argument is used in cases of assault i.e. the use of reasonable force to defend against an assailant; collection of fees and charges i.e. was an amount of reasonable quantity or quality of work done to justify the fee and in cases of equal opportunity and defamation. The Code of Conduct states "it does not matter whether a conflict of interest is actual or merely a conflict that could be reasonably perceived to exist by a third party."

Coastwatchers would like to believe that the general public have the upmost confidence in and respect for the Councillors, however in the instance of large sums of money underwriting political campaigns it is clear that any ordinary ratepayer could reasonably perceive a conflict of interest when Council does business with the political donors. We therefore request that the Code of Conduct be amended to include political donations as giving rise to a conflict of interest.

Another issue which needs clarification is the practice of Councillors rejoining the meeting as a member of the public after declaring a conflict of interest. The Local Government Act '93 Section 451 (2a) states "The Councillor or member must not be present at, or in sight of, the meeting of the Council or committee." Coastwatchers naturally expect Councillors and staffs respect this part of the Act and not rejoin meetings after declaring conflict of interest.

Regarding the recording of Council meetings and the recordings being available to the public for a fee as outlined in Council's fees and charges, this author has had some difficulty find the fees on the Council's web site. Anecdotally we have been informed that the fee to be charged for a disc of a meeting would be around $100.00. This amount seems excessive to this association considering the reduced costs of discs and technology. We believe a more realistic cost would be in the order of $20.00 to $30.00 which is in line with industry standards considering that a music CD includes royalty and other costs that Council does not incur.

In order to improve the transparency of Council Committees and create a climate of greater trust between the various stakeholders we suggest.

1.Councillors who are members of groups that receive substantial donations for election purposes should declare Conflict of Interest if individuals, companies, partnerships or other entities place before Council any DA's, tender documents or other applications for their consideration.

2. All declarations need to be made in open meetings of Council and minuted. If declarations are made in closed meetings then they need to be recorded in an appropriate way for public scrutiny.

3. After declaring a conflict of interest Councillors and staff not rejoin the meeting as a member of the public.

4. In the instance of Councillors, staff or committee members being lobbied for any variations to Council policies the applicant should be informed to put their case in writing to the General Manager.

5. The Conduct Committee should be proactive and work closely with the General Manager. The Model Code of Conduct suggests that the Conduct Committee independently review disclosures and breaches but relies on voluntary disclosure and whistle blowing. Coastwatchers would like the Conduct Committee to utilise some of the management tools provided by the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) to test the internal workings of Council. This is extremely sensitive exercise and is not meant to lead to any disciplinary actions but merely is intended to test the veracity of the workings of the organization.

6. That the cost of recorded copies of Council meetings be in the vicinity of $20.00 to $30.00.

We look forward to your response to the issues that we have raised in this submission.

Yours Sincerely

Jenny Edwards
Secretary,
The Coastwatchers Assoc Inc