SHOALHAVEN 2020: SPECIFIC COMMITMENTS

Dennis Argall 28 June 2008

Reform of Advisory Boards/Committees

This is a concept note: for advice on its practicability from the General Manager to the elected council after the elections.

[1] Advisory boards should be ... advisory. They should not be dominated by members of the elected council and staff. They need to be composed of people who can advise.

[2] Suggested composition:

• THREE practitioners in the field
• TWO persons with commercial and entrepreneurial skills and experience to advance the sector
• TWO other persons from community
• ONE council staff person - the relevant manager*

• OTHER PERSONS may be co-opted to the committee for specific projects or proposals, subject to consent of the General Manager

[3] Selection Criteria:

[i] What class of membership do you seek and what skills and experience do you bring?
[ii] What will be your objectives in the period of appointment?
[iii] What experience do you have in working as a member of a team.

[4] Role:

To advise the Elected Council and General Manager on the advancement of the sector to the benefit of the community. The Elected Council's role being:

• to make policy decisions as requested by the General Manager
• to consider and approve expenditure and
• to represent the City on appropriate occasions.

[5] Transparency and Integrity:

All meetings to be open except where privacy issues arise and for consideration of applications for grants, etc. In the latter case, selection criteria are to be circulated in advance and assessments made in accordance with those selection critieria. Applicants to have access to that part of the assessment report concerning their own application only. Members bound by the Model Code of Conduct in its general principles and particulars. Wherever possible proceedings should seek consensus and commitment to agreed course of action. Where consensus is difficult, differences should be included in the advice to the General Manager.

[6] Committee to select the board from applicants

General Manager to advise. Committee not dominated by the elected council. To include eminent persons in the sector who have no current pecuniary or non-pecuniary interests in the sector in the Shoalhaven, along with senior council staff aware of practicalities but without direct engagement in current (at whatever time) policies in the sector. Recommendations to be approved by elected council, which would have the role of assessing the propriety of the process, not meddling in selection.


* Management of committees subject to review.

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