Geoff has always focused on the things that matter most to local residents – ensuring that Monash Council is not distracted by the mission creep some other councils get carried away with. He has the priorities we share.
Priorities we share…
- Low rates
- Focusing on core council functions, not mission creep
- Protecting our neighbourhoods from inappropriate development
- Transforming Kingsway
- Fighting for rate reform to stop ‘bill shock’ caused by skyrocketing property prices
- A new 800 to 1,200 space FREE car park on Montclair Avenue in the heart of Kingsway
- Backing residents over unfair Council red tape
- A Council working efficiently for us
Posted by Geoff Lake on 10:58 pm in Councillor performance, Effective meetings, Record | 0 comments
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...
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Posted by Geoff Lake on 11:53 pm in Councillor performance, Effective meetings, News | 0 comments
It is a surprise to be back in the position of mayor again following the resignation of the previous mayor, Stefanie Perri, to contest the coming federal election. I want to thank Stefanie for her service to Council. She is one of the best councillors I have had the pleasure to serve with and she will be keenly missed. A lifelong resident of Clayton, Stefanie brought a freshness of perspective, a steely determination and an impressive capacity to get things done during her two terms as a councillor. Having been mayor three time previously,...
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Posted by Geoff Lake on 10:29 pm in Councillor performance, Effective meetings, News | 0 comments
The following is my acceptance speech upon being elected mayor on 4 May 2016 to fill the vacancy in the position which had occurred by the previous mayor’s resignation at the April Council meeting. I thank my colleagues for their support. I want to make it clear at the outset that this is not a position I have had any particular desire to do again. But in the circumstances of a vacancy occurring mid-term and unexpectedly, and given the worrying decline in behaviour at recent meetings, I think it is important that someone with...
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Posted by Geoff Lake on 4:46 am in News | 0 comments
I enjoyed being involved in a leadership development day recently held at Glendal Primary School (my former Primary School) involving about 60 student leaders (predominately house and school captains) from Glendal, Glen Waverley Mount View Primary Schools. I presented a one hour session on leadership. In preparation for the session, 25 council officers and councillors responded to my request seeking feedback on their attitudes towards leaders and leadership traits. I also asked them to nominate one example of a ‘great’ leader (keeping in...
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Posted by Geoff Lake on 4:13 am in News | 0 comments
Council is always keen to engage further with young people in our community. I recently enjoyed hosting all Grade 6 students from Glen Waverley Primary School at the Monash Civic Centre to explore how government works. The visit was held in the Council Chamber and provided an opportunity for the students (spread across two different groups) to hold a mock Council meeting and debate a local issue brainstormed by the students. As well as learning about how Council and government generally works, the students were also challenged to keep an...
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Posted by Geoff Lake on 7:31 am in Building, News, Planning | 0 comments
Covenants are a private agreement which are lodged on individual certificates of title and usually restrict the use and/or development of land in some way. Covenants are usually placed on land by a property owner, or more commonly, a developer prior to the subdivision and/or development of an estate. Only beneficiaries to a covenant benefit from a covenant and only beneficiaries of a covenant can enforce the covenant to ensure that any land use and/or development that occurs on land with a covenant complies with the covenant. As the local...
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Posted by Geoff Lake on 8:36 am in Financial management, Improving efficiency, Low rates, Rates | 0 comments
Monash Council spends more than $1,000,000 each year on legal expenses. Unlike other areas of Council expenditure and procurement, there is no sophistication to Council’s purchasing of legal services and there is no competitive process undertaken. Alternative arrangements that can reduce these costs and still deliver the required high level of professional advice and service in a timely manner are available to Council. These options should be explored to determine more cost-effective arrangements for the future. I am pleased that Council...
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Posted by Geoff Lake on 10:25 am in News | 0 comments
Today’s front page story in The Age is an article on Victoria’s building system and the operation of private building practitioners. It is worth a read. It has been about twenty years since Jeff Kennett deregulated Victoria’s building industry and put the important public approval process of issuing building permits in the hands of private practitioners serving their clients’ interests. It should now be readily apparent this system is fundamentally flawed. This issue has been topical again recently following the spectacular...
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Posted by Geoff Lake on 9:47 am in Poker machines | 0 comments
At the June 2015 meeting, Council resolved to support my recommendation that it support the formation of the Alliance for Gambling Reform. The Alliance for Gambling Reform (Alliance) is a newly-formed national collaboration of organisations with a shared concern about the harmful impacts of gambling in Australia. The Alliance seeks to campaign for reforms to the gambling industry to reduce poker machine-related harm and protect vulnerable communities from the increasing impacts of this harm as a consequence of more machines being moved into...
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Posted by Geoff Lake on 5:23 pm in News, Super | 1 comment
Stephen Mayne misses the point when he slams industry funds…
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