I WRITE in reply to Jane Wilson and Jan Hainke (SHN 21/9/15) and the criticism of the mayoral election meeting being delayed by failure of council to notify the public of the meeting agenda.
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This is all about "due process".
"Due process" is not just a legal term but also a term important to government to make sure that the facts are accurate, to make sure information is properly processed, to guarantee that those with a real contribution to that process have an opportunity to make their points without fear or favour.
One could say due process in government is critical to good government. Local Government Act, regulations and council codes and policies clearly set out that councils must follow due process under the Local Government Act, it doesn't matter whether it is a regular meeting or not.
To fail to follow due process on minor issues, unchecked, leads to breaches on major issues at a later date.
Of late our council and some councillors have shown they have no understanding of the need to follow due process with this meeting issue a minor breach compared to a number of other more recent incidents.
"Due process " was not followed in not notifying the public of the legal advice received that there were unlawful and invalid motions recorded in minutes of meetings of May 27 2015.
Then on June 6, councillors failed to follow "due process" in rescinding these "non existing " motions.
Last week a councillor publicly criticising council's decision to follow the "due process" needed to hold a constitutional referendum in conjunction with the 2016 council election to change the number of councillors for the 2020-2024 term.
The mayor and deputy mayor ignoring council's and insurance company policy and "due process" whilst standing on the side of a moving fire engine during the Tulip Time street parade.
What sort of an example does this set to the public, more importantly to the council staff who organised the event.
The failure for more than 14 months by council to follow "due process" of a resolution passed by council at the meeting of July 23, 2014 to serve remediation orders on the two properties in Range Road Mittagong. This could result in huge costs to the ratepayers of this shire.So what will failure to follow "due process" cost us next time?
We as residents should be seriously concerned that due process is followed by councillors and council at all times.
Not following due process by a council is a failure to protect the democratic rights of ratepayers.
Charlie Johns
Bowral
