The big story this week is Liverpool Council being put under the pump by the minister for local government Ron Hoenig.
In the wake of the interim report into Liverpool Council, Mr Hoenig says his intention is to suspend the council and postpone the September 14 election to allow a full public inquiry to take place.
He has given the council a week to respond, so we will see what happens.
Either way, controversy and Liverpool Council seem to go hand in hand, at least for as long as I have been covering it since 1978.
Council was actually sacked twice, once just before my time in 1976, and then again in 2004.
If it’s sacked a third time after the full public inquiry it will not come as a surprise to me or anyone else who has followed the goings-on at Liverpool for almost five decades.
But what I really want to comment on, and indeed commend, is how Campbelltown Council, unlike its South Western Sydney neighbour, is making all the right moves.
From next month it will begin livestreaming its monthly councillor briefings in what is a win for democracy in local government.
For years the trend has been for more and more secrecy, but Campbelltown Council is now leading the way in going the opposite direction.
Let’s hope that more transparency, not less, is something that spreads.
Surely telling the people to “just trust us, there’s nothing to see here’’ has reached its use by date and governments of all levels have cottoned on to this positive trend.
Whether they will follow suit and allow us to take a peek into how they make decisions that affects us may be a different matter, but let’s stay positive on this important development.
And in Campbelltown’s case, coming on the eve of council elections on Saturday, September 14 is perfect timing. Those democracy sausages will no doubt taste better than ever.
Administration is the only option for this dysfunctional Council.
For too long we the suffering ratepayers have completely been neglected by most of the elected officials.
There has to been a concerted push by the Council not to care about the look of the City.
Our City has been turned into a dump with no action to remedy the ongoing problem
Gary what you say about the current Liverpool Council is correct.
The Mayor of Liverpool and his Liberal Party voting block MUST step aside and allow the office of local government to investigate the allegations that have been made Without an hindrances or possible interference.
The 3 labor party councillors and 2 independent councillors are prepared to do that.
It’s time for the Mayor of Liverpool to take responsibility for his actions and understand that there are consequences for making Reckless, Risky and Rash decisions.
Thank you to south West voice for your coverage and news, seeing we have no local papers anymore the goings-on etc is kept secret from the public,so more news from you please. Regards Yvonne.