FRANKSTON councillors have been under investigation for the past few months. An independent observer has been shadowing their every move at council meetings to put together a report on their behaviour.
However, the surveillance has been at councillors’ own request. A governance expert has been hired to advise how council meetings can be “more effectively” run.
Maddocks lawyer Mark Hayes has been hired to run the rule over councillors’ conduct as part of a council review of meeting procedures under local governance laws.
The mayor, Cr Darrel Taylor, said council had invited Mr Hayes to “come in and see how we ran our meetings so he could get a better understanding of our processes before making recommendations”.
“Council is reviewing its meeting procedures and Maddocks is part of that review,” he said.
Cr Taylor said the way issues such as the presentation of petitions and joint letters to councillors had become “a bit vague” but he did not envisage “dramatic changes” to the way council went about its business.
“It’s all about tightening up things rather than making wholesale changes,” he said.
Maddocks’ website states Mr Hayes “is an acknowledged authority on the legislation and common law principles peculiar to local government”.
Cr Taylor said Mr Hayes had attended three council meetings and had watched proceeding from the public gallery.
He said it was normal practice for a council to undertake such a review of meeting procedure local law.
This month, neighbouring Kingston Council discussed hiring an independent observer to monitor their meetings to provide advice on councillors’ behaviour but councillors decided against the move.
Councillors had noted Mr Hayes had been tasked with monitoring Frankston Council meetings.
Kingston councillor Rosemary West said she had attended a Frankston Council meeting late last year and had noted the meeting was “really well chaired and it was impeccably polite”.
Cr West said she met Mr Hayes in the public gallery as she was leaving and said he told her he was advising Frankston councillors about their behaviour at meetings.
“If it’s good enough for Frankston Council to have someone come and monitor the conduct at their meetings, I think it should be good enough for us,” she said.
Frankston Council was unable to advise how much Mr Hayes’ expertise would ultimately cost.
A statement from council provided to The Times advised: “This process is ongoing and therefore timeframe and cost have not been finalised.”
