Upon my election to fill the vacancy in the position of Mayor three weeks ago, I signalled to Council and the community that restoring the orderly and respectful functioning of Council meetings would be my main focus in the role.
Council meetings had been rapidly descending into chaos with finishing times extending well past midnight and regular disruptive and unruly conduct by both some councillors and some members of the Public Gallery.
This is an example of the sort of conduct which was regularly occurring:
This was illegally shot from the Public Gallery at the April Council meeting and posted on Youtube. It shows a number of people heckling the mayor and disrupting the meeting.
Following my election as mayor in early in May, I presented a bold and comprehensive plan to Council on 31 May 2016 for tackling these past issues and ensuring that these problems are eliminated from our meetings from that point forward.
In addition to proposing the appointment of an independent Governance and Behaviour Monitor to report on councillor performance at our meetings for the remainder of this Council term, I also proposed a comprehensive set of Supplementary Standing Orders to complement Council’s Local Law No 1 dealing with Meeting Procedures.
As changing Council’s Local Law No 1 on Meeting Procedures is a long process and would not be possible to achieve before the end of this Council term because of statutory requirements, I proposed to Council that it endorse a number of measures supplementary to Local Law No 1 which I presented as ‘Supplementary Standing Orders’. This enables Council to immediately improve its meeting processes.
The Local Government Act 1989 and Local Law No 1 make it clear that Council is able to resolve on matters of governing its meeting procedure which are not otherwise dealt with. I recommended that Council do that through the enactment of these Supplementary Standing Orders.
These requirements will apply from this point forward and all councillors and persons in the Public Gallery will be required to abide by them. Any councillor or person in the Public Gallery who does not abide by Local Law No 1, these Supplementary Standing Orders or directions or orders of the chairperson, can expect to receive appropriate sanction which may include removal from the Council Chamber and/or being a charged with an offence pursuant to Local Law No 1.
I also flagged that I will take a zero tolerance to future bad behaviour by either councillors or persons in the Public Gallery. In particular, disregard for the lawful directions and orders of the mayor will no longer be tolerated. Any councillor or person in the Public Gallery who disregards the requirements of Local Law No 1, the Supplementary Standing Orders or any direction or order of the mayor, can expect consequences.
Disorderly conduct is an offence against Local Law No 1 and is liable to penalty either with or without a prior warning from the chairperson. Without limitation, this may include removal of a councillor or person in the Public Gallery from the Council Chamber pursuant to Clause 41 of Local Law No 1 or prosecution for an offence pursuant to Clause 42 of the Local Law (or both). In the case of a person in the Public Gallery who refuses to leave the Council Chamber when directed to do so (for whatever reason, including a belief that they have been incorrectly signalled out for an interjection), the person is also liable to be banned from attending all future meetings of Council for a period of six months.
Council’s challenge over the next five months is to significantly improve its meeting performance. Every councillor has a role to play in achieving this and all councillors will be held to account for their individual actions. People attending Council meetings in the Public Gallery are also an important part of the effective functioning of Council meetings. The Public Gallery is a valued part of Council’s meetings, but insults and verbal outbursts from a small number of people in the Public Gallery have no place in the Council Chamber and such interjections must stop and will no longer be tolerated, excused or ignored.
These Supplementary Standing Orders together with Local Law No 1, will be applied without fear or favour by me, to the best of my ability, and in the interests of lifting the governance performance of Council. I seek everyone’s cooperation to assist in Council meeting the expectations of our community over the meetings remaining in this Council term.
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