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.