Well, this clowncil's administration is at it again it seems! Having secured over $460,000 from the Commonwealth, we residents are still in the dark as to how this money will be spent. The fact that Bayside is able to inform its residents of where and how their $300,000+ allocation will be used says heaps about Bayside, and in contrast damns Glen Eira. But even more important is the fact that applications for the 50 million grants for major infrastructure projects closed yesterday - the 23rd of December. Did Glen Eira apply? If so, for which projects? Why wasn't anything said at the last council meeting in December? The fact that Esakoff could move an 'urgent business' item asking for council to 'lobby' the state government over rail/road separation only makes this omission to inform and discuss even more striking. If urgent matters can be raised about lobbying, then surely 'urgent matters' can be raised about applications which close in a week's time.
This is really a governance issue. If a funding application did go in then who was involved in the decision making, the prioritising of potential infrastructure projects, and finally, why wasn't this brought up at council meeting so that the community would know exactly what was going on? I'm also wondering if an application did go in, then was the 'aquatic centre" the designated project? My understanding was that any decision on the aquatic centre was to be made by this new council. If an application has been submitted, and funding approved, then it will be damn hard, or embarrassing to knock back the funding - so it again takes decisions away from councillors, in effect rendering them as superfluous. If no application was submitted, then it is again a damning criticism of glen eira for its failure to at least attempt to gain some benefit for its residents.
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I have it on good authority, quite some time ago and unless things have changed, that decisions about the distribution of Grants do not necessarily get discussed by the Councillors themselves in a briefing - so much as advised in writing after the decision has been made by the Administration.
I am not sure even that the distribution of funding is ratified by the Councillors, or if this was ever "necessary". Perhaps this forms part of the delegation of duties that Councillors bestow on the Administration.
The order of delegation could be rescinded should Council wish to take back control of such matters.
I believe the Councillors become so bogged down in contentious planning issues that they have little precious time between Meetings to address other matters including finance!
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