It certainly has been a busy first week as your Councillor with lots of new procedures and legislation to learn, however I welcome these strict guidelines because I want Ipswich City Council to be transparent and accountable to ratepayers and residents.
Your new Council was also briefed by the Crime & Corruption Commission, the Integrity Commissioner and the Office of the Independent Assessor; these three bodies are the watchdog for Local Governments and vital to maintaining integrity that is up to community standards. Another important policy that all Councillors must follow is the ‘Staff Interaction Policy’. This is compliant with the Local Government Act s170 which states “No councillor, including the mayor, may give a direction to any other local government employee.” The Act also states, “The mayor may give a direction to the chief executive officer”, so your Councillors through your Mayor give directions to the council officers via the CEO.
One of the highlights of the week for me was to see behind the scenes of the new CBD re-development. I know that it has not been easy for local businesses and residents to cope with the changes but it certainly is looking great and I look forward to catching up with you when the Commonwealth Hotel (also known as Murphy’s Town Pub) reopens – it’s great to see this historic building being restored to its former glory.
Included in the week was a visit to the Safe City Facility which is where work is carried out to help keep our community safe. It’s great to see that this working in conjunction with Queensland Police; reducing crime and making Ipswich safe is certainly a priority of mine.
Our second and final week of Councillor Inductions will commence on Monday.
Photo: From left to right – Cr Nicole Jonic, Cr Kate Kunzelmann, Cr Russell Milligan & Mayor Teresa Harding.
