DATE May
2, 2017
Hon David Templeman
Minister for Local government
Dear Minister
Over the past eight years the Department of Local Government (DLGC), one of its Ministers and its senior executives have been nothing but complete failures.
I would defy anybody to deny this. Even the former Premier, Colin Barnett’s past public comments have suggested this as fact.
Ms. Mathews, as Director General, has overseen a department that was ( and is) of little value to your Government, Local Government, communities, ratepayers- and a waste of taxpayer funds.
The reality is that it has done nothing to improve the standards of administrative responsibility, probity, community communication, public transparency, overall good governance, financial and State Records Act, 2005 compliance and a duty-of-care to ratepayers within the Local Government Sector.
Worst of all it has continued to deny it has any reason, responsibility and power to do so because it would be interfering in a democratic process and system.
Actually some WA academics philosophise that this process and system is not democratic. They claim that anyone on the Electoral Roll in any given local government electorate should have the right to vote in a Local Government Election . Otherwise members of a community, who are not ratepayers, are disenfranchised.
It is an issue that has been raised from time-to-time within the hallowed halls of the University of Western Australia by Professors’ whose academic expertise is aligned to analysing the level and quality of government in the community compared to other countries. Your government was made aware of this idea when Geoff Gallop was Premier.
Whether it would improve the representation and system of Local Government in WA is debatable.
In Local Government some Council Members lack of required knowledge is bordering on criminal ineptitude and very little has been done to change this.
It is pitiful when you hear that one rural Councillor’s response to why he was a good and effective councillor was that he had (personally) ‘never been broke’. That was after he had be told that $600,000 had been stolen, very easily, from his Shire- by its Chief-Executive-Officer.
It has also been noted in the media that Senior Shire Officers whose capabilities have been questioned by ratepayers or the WA Corruption & Crime Commission disappear, to reappear somewhere else, usually in a Rural, Regional or Remote Local government Area, in a similar position of responsibility.
Overall when ever the DLG has been finally forced to act, any actions and decisions it has taken has been reactive negativity, not proactive rationalization, to the detriment of both council and ratepayers.
It has now been suggested that Ms. Mathews will be removed from her Director Generals position.
I believe she has made her position untenable and the whole department should now come under intense scrutiny and review by appropriate external authorities.
The position of Mr. Brad Jolly, the Executive Director Sector Regulations and Support, the
Department of Local Government and Communities should also be considered to be
untenable. His support of, and insistence for, probity within the Local
Government Sector has been, at best, farcical.
One example was Mr. Jolly’s lack of action after assisting in hiring a Mr. James Best as Commissioner of the Shire of York when its Council was suspended without adequate reason.
Mr. Best hired himself in an additional employment capacity, without due authority, and, similarly purchased a private property on behalf of the Shire. The direct, non-recoupable debt to the Shire of York is in the vicinity of $700,000.
Mr. Jolly is also the Presiding Member ( and the representative of the Department of Local Government) on the Local Government Standards Panel- charged with enforcing the Local Government (Rules of Conduct) Regulations 2007, regarding behavioural matters within the Local Government Sector.
At one stage his Deputy Local Government Member was none other than the Lord Mayor of Perth, Lisa Scaffidi, now accused of serious breaches of behavioural matters including the acceptance of numerous expensive gifts of flights and accommodation provided to her by various third-parties.
Hon David Templeman
Minister for Local government
Dear Minister
Over the past eight years the Department of Local Government (DLGC), one of its Ministers and its senior executives have been nothing but complete failures.
I would defy anybody to deny this. Even the former Premier, Colin Barnett’s past public comments have suggested this as fact.
Ms. Mathews, as Director General, has overseen a department that was ( and is) of little value to your Government, Local Government, communities, ratepayers- and a waste of taxpayer funds.
The reality is that it has done nothing to improve the standards of administrative responsibility, probity, community communication, public transparency, overall good governance, financial and State Records Act, 2005 compliance and a duty-of-care to ratepayers within the Local Government Sector.
Worst of all it has continued to deny it has any reason, responsibility and power to do so because it would be interfering in a democratic process and system.
Actually some WA academics philosophise that this process and system is not democratic. They claim that anyone on the Electoral Roll in any given local government electorate should have the right to vote in a Local Government Election . Otherwise members of a community, who are not ratepayers, are disenfranchised.
It is an issue that has been raised from time-to-time within the hallowed halls of the University of Western Australia by Professors’ whose academic expertise is aligned to analysing the level and quality of government in the community compared to other countries. Your government was made aware of this idea when Geoff Gallop was Premier.
Whether it would improve the representation and system of Local Government in WA is debatable.
In Local Government some Council Members lack of required knowledge is bordering on criminal ineptitude and very little has been done to change this.
It is pitiful when you hear that one rural Councillor’s response to why he was a good and effective councillor was that he had (personally) ‘never been broke’. That was after he had be told that $600,000 had been stolen, very easily, from his Shire- by its Chief-Executive-Officer.
It has also been noted in the media that Senior Shire Officers whose capabilities have been questioned by ratepayers or the WA Corruption & Crime Commission disappear, to reappear somewhere else, usually in a Rural, Regional or Remote Local government Area, in a similar position of responsibility.
Overall when ever the DLG has been finally forced to act, any actions and decisions it has taken has been reactive negativity, not proactive rationalization, to the detriment of both council and ratepayers.
It has now been suggested that Ms. Mathews will be removed from her Director Generals position.
I believe she has made her position untenable and the whole department should now come under intense scrutiny and review by appropriate external authorities.
The position of Mr. Brad Jolly, the Executive Director Sector Regulations and Support, the
 |
| Brad Jolly |
One example was Mr. Jolly’s lack of action after assisting in hiring a Mr. James Best as Commissioner of the Shire of York when its Council was suspended without adequate reason.
Mr. Best hired himself in an additional employment capacity, without due authority, and, similarly purchased a private property on behalf of the Shire. The direct, non-recoupable debt to the Shire of York is in the vicinity of $700,000.
Mr. Jolly is also the Presiding Member ( and the representative of the Department of Local Government) on the Local Government Standards Panel- charged with enforcing the Local Government (Rules of Conduct) Regulations 2007, regarding behavioural matters within the Local Government Sector.
At one stage his Deputy Local Government Member was none other than the Lord Mayor of Perth, Lisa Scaffidi, now accused of serious breaches of behavioural matters including the acceptance of numerous expensive gifts of flights and accommodation provided to her by various third-parties.
How such a high profile Local Government Councillor claims to have failed to recognize she was continuously in breach of Local Government Rules after having sat on the Local Government Standards Panel, chaired by Mr. Jolly, is both unexplainable and unacceptable.
Why Mr. Jolly, as the Presiding Member of the standards panel did not ensure that Mrs. Scaffidi was fully conversant with the requirements regarding behavioural matters is also unexplainable and unacceptable.
In normal circumstances the buck stops with Mr. Jolly and he should be removed from both his official capacities.
I hope that I can receive a response to me from your department regarding these matters in due course.
Yours sincerely
David Taylor.
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