Do you trust your councillors ? Do they really listen to you ?
Standing as a candidate for council, I find many of the
candidates across the political spectrum say the same things – stop
overdevelopment, protect the suburbs, cut costs and waste. And they promise to
listen to community groups.
But the track record of many councillors is far from this.
So why should we expect more from Greens councillors? Why should we trust them
more than independents or Labor or Liberal party councillors?
The Greens councillors are bound to a few key principles –
grass roots democracy, social and economic justice, sustainability. Greens
councillors will always judge decisions on these principles, as well as local input,
local knowledge and wisdom, and if they are tempted to waver there are plenty
of people to remind them of these principles.
This makes Greens councillors quite different to independent
councillors, often single issue candidates, who, once they are elected, have no
checks and balances to keep them to their promises, don’t have published principles
and members to keep them on track. Too often Independents are swayed by
developer interests, or their own or friends personal interests or opinions.
Greens councillors are always reminded of the principle that they are there for
the community.
On the other hand, councillors from the two big parties have
usually had their selection influenced by the party machine, and are beholden
to the party hierarchy. At any time they can be told to pull their head in, if,
for a current example, they conflict with the State party over matters such as
planning laws, state developments etc. In contrast, Greens councillors are
selected entirely at local group level, and the local group is autonomous from
the party head office, provided only that they stick to the core principles.
But Greens councillors are empowered by
the group knowledge and power of over 100 councillors and mayors throughout
NSW, with a growing number of representatives and support and research staff in
parliament.
And Greens councillors don’t just listen to their
communities, or consult with them based on predetermined positions. Our
commitment to grass roots democracy incorporates three key aspects that make us
different, that truly empower communities.
Firstly, we are committed to open, transparent and
accountable councils. So the community know all the facts and figures. No “we
know more, but we are not prepared to tell you” excuses for making decisions
the community do not want. Away with the culture of secrecy. Make information
easily accessible, in a very understandable forms. Not reams of paper with
thousands of words but too often missing the crucial information.
Secondly, we believe the council should empower the
community, by empowering community groups to better engage with council. Help
groups form, help them recruit members, gain skills in running a group and
democratically representing their members and community, have an active program
of engagement between council and the groups, funded by council.
Thirdly, we don’t believe council, in its councillors and
the council staff, have any monopoly on wisdom and good ideas. We believe that
the community often is as well or better equipped with both. True council
engagement should be seeking to bring forward those ideas and that expertise to
combine with those from the professional staff, with their role more one of
melding the ideas into the overall council proposals, plans and actions. And by
using local expertise perhaps cutting the costs of outside consultants, who
anyway too often just say what the council wants to hear.
Council must engage with the community from the start to
build Vision and Future Plans, not just late in the game going to the community
to “consult”, often in reality to sell and get approval for a decision already
made internally. Not one 3 minute say at a council meeting, but properly facilitated workshops
with brainstorming sessions and other processes to draw forward ideas, to
develop realistic plans, to fully engage a knowledgeable and empowered community.
So let’s build a council we can trust. Whoever else is on
council, make sure there are enough Greens councillors there that are truly committed
to making grassroots democracy a reality. Use your preferences wisely.
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