Democracy, what's that?

[Sadman]

G'day All,
Have just read posts on Local council & democracy and as it's "120" days
since any one posted on this thread!! This clever site suggested I start
a new thread!!!!

I have reached the stage where I no longer know what Democracy is.
It used to "Government of the people, by the people, for the people".
I say used to be, because most people have reneged on their responsibilities
and blame "the government" for every thing that goes wrong. What is
interesting is the fact that if you are a government of the day supporter,
you blame "the unions".

Now to your council, based on the posts on this site it would appear council
does not publicly display their agenda or minutes on their website?
If this is correct, why not?
Does council have a page or half a page in the local paper once a month
citing all the important decisions they have made?
Please tell, how many local people attend council meetings?
Do they make use of public participation time to question council or offer
suggestions?

After all, democracy has to be worked at.

Sadman

[Mike Hawkins]

Good morning, Sadman.

The Town Council does publish its' agendas and minutes on the website but sometimes there is a delay. This is being sorted out with our webmaster.

The council meetings are normally attended by maybe 2 or 3 members of the public, unless there is a particular topic which has a lot of local interest, e.g. the Bypass discussions.

The "public forum" lasts for 30 minutes and we have two main contributors, one who will praise and question, the other who will always criticise. As Mayor (until May 6th this year) I am required to provide answers to these questions/criticisms either during the meeting or by letter. Some councillors are not happy that members of the public can criticise them, but councillors cannot respond, although if it becomes too personal the member of the public can be told to sit down.

It is interesting to note that when asked why they don't stand for election, these people make it clear they are not interested, which in itself is disappointing.

The public forum is an important part of the democratic process, and does raise some valid failings, particularly in the need to provide improved communication.

We also have an Annual Town Meeting where a report of the past year is presented and all members of the electorate can attend and ask questions. During this meeting the Mayor is the only member of the council acting in this capacity. All councillors attend and are seated with the public - they are not acting as councillors during this meeting.

The Annual Town Meeting this year is on Monday 27th April at 7pm.

[Sadman]

Mike H,
Thanks for your response. Our system is somewhat different eg Public Participation,
each member of the public attending is allowed 5 minutes. No names are allowed,
so you cannot say Councillor Brown is a dog. You could say I believe one of our
councillors is a mongrel. Questions on notice can be either verbal or written and
you will get a written reply from the CEO.

Our council takes a full page in both our locals once a month to advise of what they
see as important issues. Four times a year they also put out a council magazine
covering all that has taken place in the preceeding period.

Our real problem in my view is public apathy, our two favorite saying being,
"she'll be right" and "no worries". Sad to say they are both wrong.

But thanks again for the info,

Sadman