KINGSTON Council has come up trumps for transparency compared to nearby councils by disclosing ratepayer-funded CEO pay. The News asked Kingston Council and neighbouring Frankston and Mornington Peninsula Shire councils to confirm the remuneration of councils’ highest-paid employees and Kingston disclosed CEO John Nevins’ pay figure down to the cent. Frankston and Mornington Peninsula Shire refused to confirm the exact salary of its CEOs and merely referenced information publicly available in council annual reports. Council annual reports list income ranges, not specific salary figures, for council’s highest-paid executives. Kingston Council said Mr Nevins’ total annual remuneration is $376,511.66, including superannuation,…
Author: Neil Walker
A NEW lobby group wants the business community to come together to call for more federal and state investment in major infrastructure projects across the Frankston region. The Committee for Greater Frankston describes itself as “a visionary think tank that will advocate to all levels of government for a better deal for the Greater Frankston region”. Three business breakfast events by the group in Carrum Downs, Langwarrin and Seaford and membership fees from businesses who have joined the committee have contributed a total of $125,000 so the committee could officially launch this month. The advocacy group will initially focus on…
A CRUMBLING jetty at Patterson Lakes Plaza will be rebuilt after Kingston Council and the state government resolved a dispute over funding for the project. The inner harbour jetty will be built with $499,000 of taxpayers’ money from the Labor state government and Kingston Council has agreed to maintain the jetty. Maintenance costs are estimated to be about $10,000 annually. Carrum Labor MP Sonya Kilkenny said the previous impasse over council effectively refusing to accept stage one funding of $139,000 late last year had been “disappointing” (“Rifts over new jetty plans”, The News 2/11/16) but she is now pleased the…
AUTHORITIES have done a U-turn over controversial traffic light changes at a busy Chelsea intersection. Changes to the sequencing of lights at the Maury Rd and Nepean Highway in Chelsea, introduced in December, have caused “chaos” according to frustrated drivers. A residents’ petition was tabled at Kingston Council’s latest public council meeting this month calling on council to write to VicRoads to demand the lights sequencing revert to its previous configuration. Cr Tamsin Bearsley tabled the petition at the meeting and said the new traffic lights have caused “traffic chaos”. “It has been raised by a number of people. Obviously,…
FRANKSTON Council’s monthly public council meetings have become mired in lengthy debates about individual councillors’ notice of motions. Councillors have lodged 37 notices in motions over three scheduled monthly meetings since the new council was elected in November last year. Meetings have been unable to be completed in one sitting twice – in December and January – meaning councillors returned to the council chamber to continue the debate later the same week. January’s marathon meeting, held over two evenings, ran for about seven hours. At one point late in the second evening’s proceedings mayor Cr Brian Cunial, the meeting chair,…