Seeking partners in sensible reform | SA – Uncapped potential | AGM outcomes | SA Planning Awards | Jim Hullick Award | Joy Baluch Award | Years of service awards No Images? Click here Update from the LGA President Vol 2: Issue 24 - Monday 20 November 2017 Dear Mayors and CouncillorsWe have just completed another successful AGM with terrific speakers and panelists. It was exciting to hear our advocacy is paying off with Mark Parnell, Kelly Vincent, Rob Brokenshire and Nick Xenophon all stating they won't support rate capping. This means we are making ground but we must keep up the efforts against this populist policy. I also launched our election strategy for March 2018 and you will find it on our website. Local government will be looking for a lot of genuine engagement leading into this election and I encourage you to use this document as the basis of your discussions. Matt and I are off on another road trip this week and I look forward to meeting with some of you over the next few days. LGA President Mayor Lorraine Rosenberg Seeking partners in sensible reform It was fantastic to hear representatives from SA Best, Australian Conservatives, Greens SA and Dignity Party all confirm during our pre-AGM panel that they would oppose the introduction of rate capping in South Australia. We’re now urging the Liberal Party to drop this policy, and work with us on sensible reforms for our sector. The LGA will provide all political parties with a road map for local government reform well ahead of the March 2018 election, and ask them support us in driving our own reform agenda. We are about to consult with councils on what these reforms would be, and based on this consultation will put a proposal to the LGA Board for endorsement in January. I would encourage you to meet with your local Liberal MPs and ask them what reforms they would support for local government in place of rate capping. Rate capping was covered at length on Leon Byner’s show on 5AA Friday morning and Mayor Trainer, Mayor Telfer and Mayor Johanson all did a great job explaining the flaws in this policy. Both rate capping and forced amalgamations have hurt communities interstate, and we don’t want to see them introduced here. However, we are serious about further improving the efficiency and effectiveness of our sector, and keen to work as a partner in government to advance our sector. To watch the keynote address from Nick Xenophon please click here. South Australia – Uncapped potential Councils achieve some great outcomes working with the State Government, but we could do even more with closer collaboration. Our 2018 state election platform – South Australia. Uncapped potential – outlines more than fifty priorities for local government, including a range of partnership opportunities. We will be meeting with all parties and seeking commitments that will ease the cost of living for South Australians, drive economic development and jobs growth, and support stronger communities, and will ask all parties to:
This isn’t just an LGA document – it belongs to the whole sector, and I’d encourage you to read it and advocate on the key issues for councils to your local candidates. You can download South Australia. Uncapped potential from the LGA’s website, and we will also send printed copies to all councils. Annual General Meeting outcomes Thank you to everyone who represented their councils at our Annual General Meeting last Thursday. These meetings provide an opportunity for all members to shape the programs and strategic direction of the LGA, and we had some spirited debate on issues that are important to our sector. Some of the motions passed at the meeting included councils asking the LGA to:
The full minutes from the meeting will be available on our website soon. Thank you Mayor Green Last week Port Lincoln Mayor Bruce Green announced he was stepping down as President of the Eyre Peninsula Local Government Association and as a member of the LGA Board, and would be replaced in both positions by his current Deputy, Tumby Bay Mayor Sam Telfer. I would like to thank Bruce for his many contributions both to the EPLGA and our Board, and I look forward to continuing to work with Sam in his new role as a full LGA board member. SA Planning Awards Congratulations to the LGA’s Director Policy Stephen Smith, who was awarded the prestigious honour of SA’s Planner of the Year at the Planning Institute of Australia (SA Branch) Awards for Planning Excellence last Friday night. We’re in the midst of some of the biggest planning reforms South Australia has seen in thirty years, and Stephen is doing a great job working with both councils and DPTI on the phased transition to the State’s new planning system. A significant win for Stephen and his team in the past few months was successfully advocating for the deferral of local government contributions to the new online planning platform, saving all South Australian councils between $4,000 and $36,000 this year.Well done Stephen – this award is well deserved and acknowledges the great job you do representing councils to other spheres of government. It was also fantastic to see so many councils win awards on the night – you can find a full list of the winners here. We have some terrific planning professionals working in local government and it’s great seeing them get the recognition they deserve. Jim Hullick Award It was my great pleasure to present the Jim Hullick Award at our Conference Dinner last Wednesday night. Named after our past LGA CEO Jim Hullick, this award recognises state and commonwealth public servants who have demonstrated a partnership approach in working with councils. This year I was thrilled to present this award to joint winners for the first time – Ronnie Faggotter and Geoff Strempel. Ronnie was recognised for the tremendous work she’s done helping councils and communities recover after emergency events. In her role as Director of the State Recovery Office, Ronnie has demonstrated great empathy and understanding of the need for local recovery planning. In particular, she understands the importance of councils being engaged early in the recovery process, as well as the benefits that this early engagement can bring to both the council and the community. Geoff started out working in local government as the Manager Libraries, Arts and Cultural Services at the City of Onkaparinga. He is currently Associate Director with the State Library of SA, where he works closely with councils and the LGA on the 100-odd libraries that councils run – and 40 they co-fund – across the State. Since 2008 Geoff has played a pivotal role in the development, implementation and advancement of the One Card library network system. Membership of this network is optional – but the financial and service improvement benefits are so significant that every council has chosen to participate. This project has been a shining example of what can be achieved for communities when state and local government work together in partnership. Congratulations to both Ronnie and Geoff – they are terrific assets to our sector and examples of the partnership approach we aspire to in all of our dealings with other spheres of government. Joy Baluch Award nominations now open Nominations for the Joy Baluch Award – which recognises the contributions of women to our sector – are now open. More information – as well as the nomination form – can be found here. This year’s Joy Baluch Award winner – announced back in April – was Councillor Carol Martin from the City of Port Adelaide Enfield. Carol was also a recipient of a 20 year service award at our dinner Wednesday night, and I was touched by her celebratory post on Facebook. I’ve shared this here with Carol’s permission – her passion for our sector and her community shine through, and the comments from her constituents reflect the many lives she’s touched as an elected member. I look forward to announcing our 2016/17 Joy Baluch Award winner at our 2018 Showcase and OGM Dinner next April. Years of service awards Our Conference Dinner also included the presentation of years of service certificates to council members who have served for two decades or more. As I noted in my remarks on the night, for most people who are on council, this is just one of many things they do to serve their community. They also help out with meals on wheels, the CFS, the local sporting club – and this makes their extended service to local government all the more extraordinary. Congratulations to all of my colleagues below on reaching these significant milestones – your communities are better thanks to your many contributions. 20 Years of Service
Combined service
25 Years of Service
30 Years of Service
35 Years of Service
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