The days of councillors deciding who gets to don the mayoral robes might be coming to an end if Local Government Minister Natalie Hutchins gets her way.
A paper released last week proposes that the mayor be elected directly by residents for a two year term. Bring it on I say and have been saying for a long time. The position has lost its credibility amid secret deals and arrangements, and not so hidden political agendas.
The mayor is little more than a figurehead these days, and while it still commands a near-six figure salary and is a full-time position, it is really a chalk outline of what the leader of this community needs to be.
Allowing the 11 councillors to choose the mayor has always seemed ridiculous to me, and always allowed for the process to be compromised.
I firmly believe this is the way to go. I can see more positives than negatives and definitely more accountability for both the mayor and the council.
Meanwhile, why doesn’t the council reintroduce footpath collections? No matter where you drive in Wyndham, you’ll see residents still placing unwanted items on the footpath and within a short time they’re gone. It’s the ‘one man’s trash is another’s treasure’ scenario.
If I put a table on the nature strip and someone takes it, what’s the problem? If I call council and arrange for the same table to be part of a hard-waste collection, it goes into landfill. Isn’t that what we’re trying to avoid?
I know people got upset because second-hand dealers were seen to be profiting from it, and some were very aggressive in their pursuit of goods.
But I’m sure they could have been quickly weeded out through mobile phone cameras and a quick report to authorities.
I’m sure that if council did an ‘extensive community consultation’ on hard waste collections, they’d find the majority want the old system back.
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