Improving councillor attendances at meetings

I called a special meeting of Council on 19 July 2016 to consider issues relating to councillors not turning up to meetings and not providing reasonable notice of apologies.

I had become alarmed at the attendance record of some councillors and, in particular, the approach that some councillors were taking in either providing no prior apology when they are absent from a Council meeting or providing unreasonable or insufficient notice of a planned extended absence.

All councillors who are elected to Monash Council are aware that Monash Council meets on most Tuesday evenings.  Nothing has changed in this regard over the course of this Council term.  Councillors are elected to serve the Monash community.  It is special privilege and councillors are paid more than $30,000 per year to fulfil their duties.  It is a key requirement that councillors turn up to Council meetings to represent the community effectively and to participate in the decision making processes of the Council.  A councillor who does not regularly attend Council meetings cannot properly fulfil the functions of their role and cannot effectively represent our community.

As mayor, I am responsible for ensuring that Council meetings function effectively.  It is critical that for this to happen, councillors attend meetings consistently and provide appropriate notice of periods of leave or apologies if they are unable to attend.

Based on unprecedented councillor conduct leading to the June Council meeting, I have become concerned about the approach which Cr Theo Zographos and Cr Robert Davies have adopted to their Council duties.  On 29 June 2016 I advised the Monash community that I would examine these matters further.  I have since attempted to follow up these matters with both Cr Zographos and Cr Davies but their responses have been inadequate.  Accordingly, it is appropriate for Council to now consider these matters further.

 

Cr Zographos’s conduct

 

I am dismayed that Cr Zographos has missed six of the past seven scheduled meetings of Council and the past four scheduled meetings in a row without so much as an explanation or an apology.  I have no idea why Cr Zographos has not attended these meetings or what Cr Zographos has been doing during this period.  He has since been quoted in the Waverley Leader as having been overseas during this period but refusing to say where he was while he was also quoted at the same time on Nine MSN as saying he was somewhere in Victoria.  As a councillor he is entitled to reasonable periods of leave away from his duties but just like an employee in any workplace, he is expected to notify his colleagues and our community of any absence in advance.  It is just common courtesy.

Section 65 of the Local Government Act 1989 sets out that the role of a councillor is to participate in the decision-making of the Council, to represent the local community in that decision-making and to contribute to the strategic direction of the council.  This section also provides that a councillor must observe principles of good governance and act with integrity.  I am concerned that Cr Zographos is not acting in accordance with his obligations under this section given his ongoing unexplained absence from Council.

As a result of Cr Zographos’s conduct, I asked Council officers to conduct an audit of councillor attendances over the course of this Council term.  I am concerned that Cr Zographos has a unacceptable record of attendance at meetings in 2016.  He has missed 80% of Council strategy meetings and 67% of Council briefing meetings.

I also note that more broadly, his record of attendance at scheduled Council meetings is significantly worse than all other councillors over the course of this Council term.

 

Cr Davies’s conduct

 

Similarly, I was also disappointed to receive notice in passing from Cr Robert Davies via email at 4.02 pm on the day of the June Council meeting – less than four hours prior to that meeting – that he was overseas on a family holiday and would not be attending the meeting.  His email was only sent in response to an email I had sent him to clarify a serious matter concerning him relating to Council business which he was expected to respond to at the meeting.

All councillors have a responsibility to Council and our community to perform their obligations in a professional manner.  Missing multiple meetings with no advance apology and not providing reasonable notice of an extended period of leave should not have to be tolerated.

 

Inadequate responses from Cr Zographos and Cr Davies

 

Following the June Council meeting, I emailed both Cr Zographos and Cr Davies on 29 June 2016 seeking further information from them in relation to these matters.  I sought answers from Cr Zographos to the following questions:

1. Where are you?
2. Why have you not attended these four previous meetings?
3. If you are currently outside of Victoria, when did you leave and when will you be returning?
4. Why have you not provided any advance apology for not attending these meetings?
5. Will you be attending the next formal meeting of councillors on 12 July?

Regrettably, Cr Zographos has refused to respond to these questions.

I also sought answers from Cr Davies to the following questions:

1. When did you leave Australia?
2. When will you be returning to Australia?
3. Will you be attending the next formal meeting of councillors on 12 July?
4. When did you book your airfare for your trip?
5. Why did you not provide earlier notice to me or Council about your intended extended period of leave and your planned absence from the June meeting?

Cr Davies has also has refused to answer these questions.

 

Cancellation of the 12 June strategy meeting

 

As a result of their refusal to provide any indication of whether they would be attending the Council meeting scheduled for 12 July 2016, I was left with no other alternative than to cancel this meeting as I had received notice from other councillors of three quite valid apologies for this meeting.  Normally, a meeting would be fine to proceed with only three councillors absent but with a potential for five out of 11 councillors to not attend, it is not fair to officers or other councillors to proceed with a meeting.

The cancellation of this meeting caused an unfortunate disruption to the business of the Council as well as inconveniencing external presenters from the Metropolitan Planning Authority who had been arranged to present to this meeting.

Given the failure by both Cr Zographos and Cr Davies to adequately respond to these matters, and given the subsequent impact on the business of Council by the cancellation of this meeting, it was appropriate for Council to consider these matters further in order to require that more reasonable standards of behaviour and conduct are observed in future.

 

Breach of the Local Government Act by Cr Zographos

 

I am advised by Council officers that Cr Theo Zographos has breached the requirements of section 76C (6B) of the Local Government Act 1989 which requires that a councillor sign a formal declaration to abide by an amended Councillor Code of Conduct (Code) in the presence of the Chief Executive Officer within one month of an amendment to the Code.  All Monash councillors were provided with an opportunity to sign a declaration in front of Council’s Chief Executive Officer following the special Council meeting held on 31 May 2016 to adopt a new Code in line with the recent changes to the Act.  Cr Zographos was present at this time and chose not to take up this opportunity.

He and all other councillors were made aware of the requirement imposed by the Act to sign a declaration within a month of the new Code coming into effect and the need to do so in the presence of the Chief Executive Officer.  I am advised that since Council officers followed up his non-compliance with the Act in June, he has since signed the declaration on 12 July 2016.  However, I view his contravention of the Act as a serious matter which has exposed him to disqualification from Council and has the potential to embarrass the Council.

 

Opportunity to respond more appropriately to these serious matters

 

I proposed to Council that Cr Zographos and Cr Davies be given a final opportunity to respond more appropriately to the matters raised by making appropriate apologies and undertakings to the Council and the Monash community.  I also foreshadowed that if they refuse to respond appropriately, I think it is incumbent upon the Council to take further action to enforce more appropriate professional standards of conduct.

In the same way as how Council has regained control of behaviour at Council meetings over the past two months, it is appropriate for Council to also act decisively to ensure that councillor attendances at meetings is similarly improved so community expectations can be met.  Council’s Governance and Behaviour Monitor has also identified in his report on the June 2016 Council meeting the need for councillors to observe appropriate standards in providing their apologies for meetings they do not attend.