...MornPenCouncilWatch

???? Should the Councillors have KPI’s ????

2010-02-13T12:07:00.000+11:00

Why should they not is the bigger question!! KPI (key performance indicators) set a standard of excellence that one can be measured by.

It is extremely important that Councillors have KPI’s and being as we elect them it is us who should set them. Then when the election is about we will have an accurate measurement of their performance and not just a bunch of rhetoric of what great things they are going to do.

We have failed as ratepayers to exert our democratic rights and to tell those who we elect exactly what we expect of them.

So if you have a comment on the issue of Councillor KPI's or what the KPI's should be: have your say here.

CEO KPI: New Items

2009-11-30T08:21:00.003+11:00

This Particular post is where to comment on other KPI should be developed for the CEO.

For comments on Current KPI items see each post identifying a specific category.

CEO KPI: Professional Development:

2009-11-30T08:20:00.001+11:00

Takes all steps necessary to:

• Maintain a appreciation of the external community/political environment and emerging issues that may impact on Council policy/Strategy development or service deliver

• Maintain an awareness/appreciation of relevant developments in leadership/management thinking

• Embrace every opportunity for personal and/or organizational development, including welcoming the ideas and thinking of Council and when appropriate, other parties

CEO KPI: Reporting Process:

2009-11-30T08:19:00.000+11:00

• Reports monthly to Council and the community on all of the activities of the Shire, in a formal agreed to by Council

• Strives to ensure that reports to Council are timely, accurate and comprehensive, whilst identifying critical issues for consideration by Council

• Updates Council on issues of importance, in a timely basis, as and when appropriate

CEO KPI: Risk Management:

2009-11-30T08:18:00.001+11:00

Seeks to ensure that all risks, financial and non-financial, whilst not entirely avoidable, are minimized, including:

• Ensuring a whole-of-organization appreciation of the need to identify and address risk management as a responsibility of every director, manager, team leader, and team member

• Ensuring Council’s risk management focus is embraced by all contracted organizations and individuals

• Ensuring that the physical and financial risks in public liability, occupational health and safety, and other risk categories are addressed both strategically an operationally

• Seeking to ensure compliance with all relevant legislation

• Ensuring audit processes identify and respond to all financial and non-financial risk exposures

CEO KPI: Financial Management:

2009-11-30T08:17:00.000+11:00

• Ensures the budget preparation process reflect Council’s policy/strategy objectives and priorities as set out in Council’s Community Plan and other approved policies and strategies.

• Ensures optimal use is made of community funds and resources, including indentifying and elimination of waste, and opportunities for cost-saving

• Ensures ongoing management of performance against budget, whilst addressing unexpected needs or circumstances when the arrive

• Ensures financial performance is reported regularly (monthly) to Council and that and adverse trends are identified and auctioned.

CEO KPI: Policy Implementation, Service Delivery/Responsiveness:

2009-11-30T08:16:00.000+11:00

• Ensures that systems and procedures are in place to implement Council policies/strategies on a timely, responsible and cost-effective basis including Council’s capital works program

• Ensures that contractual relationships reflect council’s intended service delivery expectations and provide mechanisms to ensure the achievement of Council’s specified objectives

• Ensure that systems and processes are in place to respond effectively to service requests, telephone contact, and correspondence, within agreed timelines

• Ensures that service delivery standards and methods are under continuous review and are adapted to changing community needs and expectation (e.g. use of electronic technology where it enhances service delivery/availability

CEO KPI: Policy/strategy Development:

2009-11-30T08:15:00.000+11:00

• Develops and maintains a policy framework/methodology which addresses social, economic and environmental objectives in a connected, joined up way, consistent with council’s Commitment to a sustainable Peninsula

• Ensures that policy/strategy development is objective, evidence based, rigorous and equitable, whilst responding to the varied needs and circumstances of the Peninsula’s diverse communities

• Strives to be strategically far sighted in early identification of, and response to, emerging policy issues (e.g. climate change, early years development)

CEO KPI: Organizational Leadership:

2009-11-30T08:13:00.002+11:00

• Creates and sustains an organizational culture focused on

o Shared commitment to serving the community
o Innovation and continuous improvement
o Valuing the contribution of every team member regardless of “rank”
o Optimizing individual and (more importantly) collective organizational performance
o Striving to see each issue as the community sees it

• In an environment of ageing workforce and potential skills shortages

o Understands contemporary recruitment, development and retention issues and develops and implements a long-term human resources/organization development strategy which addresses the shire’s immediate and long term needs (e.g. traineeships, professional development, retention strategies, succession planning, etc.)

• Address the health and well-being needs of the Shire’s organizational team, recognizing that tin a large and diverse workforce, striving to meet the community’s high expectations, that pressures, conflicts, and tensions will arise, working strategically to minimize their incidence, and to address issues when the do arise

CEO KPI: Council/Organization Governance/Process:

2009-11-30T08:11:00.001+11:00

Recognizing that:

Council has significant policy-forming and decision-making responsibilities across a very wide range of complex policy issues Council is committed to a well informed, collegiate, consensus-focused approach, and to open, transparent decision-making
Councilors’ time is a scarce resource

• Provides processes to facilitate a positive, mutually supportive working relationship within Council and between Council and the Shire organizational team

• Ensures that reports, briefings and presentations to council are well focused, timely and appropriately comprehensive

• Ensures councillors are alerted to issues of importance, of a political, strategic, or more immediate or local nature, at whole of Council or individual ward/local levis, as they arise, as appropriate

• Ensures the organizational team is responsive to requests from councillors for information or assistance

• Provides pragmatic , workable solutions for Council to facilitate policy/strategy implementation that response to local community needs

CEO KPI: Government/Stakeholder Relations Advocacy:

2009-11-30T08:10:00.000+11:00

As council’s principal advisor and champion of Council’s policy and service delivery objectives, the CEO will lead and guide advocacy with governments, their agencies and other stakeholders to secure policy support and financial support for Council’s objectives. This requires that the CEO:

• Develops and maintains effective working relationships at political and bureaucratic levels with all relevant ministries and departments

• Actively contributes to sector-wide peak bodies (MAV, Interface, etc.) in advocacy and policy development

• Develops and maintains effective working relationship with local, State, and Federal MP’s and

• Develops and maintains effective working relationships with relevant agencies, utilities, industry organizations, etc. (Melbourne Water, Vitoria Police) and advocates on Council’s behalf to achieve Council’s intended outcomes whenever possible

CEO KPI: Community Relations and Engagement:

2009-11-30T08:08:00.004+11:00

As Council’s principal advisor, and as champion of Council’s policy and service delivery objectives, the CEO will lead and guide the Shire’s engagement with the Mornington Peninsula’s diverse communities so that Council policy/strategy development reflects an understanding of community needs, expectations and priorities, and is seen to do so. This requires that the CEO:

• Creates processes/opportunities for engagement with the community:

o At a “whole of Peninsula” and local level
o At a strategic and more operational level
o With resident. Business, environmental and other interest groups, and
o At council’s initiative and in response to community requests

• Ensures open responsive working relationships with all resident interest groups, so that “shared focus on shared goals” is achieved wherever possible and

• Ensures that Council communicates as effectively as possible what it is doing and why it is doing it, recognizing the challenge of achieving engagement with the less interested as well as the most interested

TheShire Website

2009-11-26T09:53:00.002+11:00

The Mornington Peninsula WebSite has a wealth of general and resource information available.

Unfortunately, sometimes it is hard to find the information you are looking for.

Word on "TheStreet" is that this site will be redesigned sometime in the near (a couple of years?) future.

As you are looking at the site post any suggestions on how to make it a better site here and i will make sure it gets passed on the the "right" people.

Please provide contact details so you can be contacted.

LOCAL LAW #6: CONSUMPTION OF LIQUOR AND BEHAVIOR IN PUBLIC PLACES

2009-09-07T08:34:00.001+10:00

Pretty much what the title says.

Goes into specific area.

Don't see any thing on how to handle underage drinking which is a big problem. if this one were "nipped in the bud" it would go a long way in preventing problems in the future.

LOCAL LAW #5: STREETS AND ROADS

2009-09-07T08:33:00.002+10:00

This local law covers a lot of issues and rules concerning the auxiliary uses of streets and roads and covers many diverse subjects such as:

Advertising Signs (including real estate)
Trading from A Road
Street Parties, Festivals and Processions
Shopping Trolleys
Livestock on Roads and Horses On Reservations
Activities on Footpaths, including Shopping Precinct

Worth a look with maybe some interesting comments to be made where the subject matter is of interest to you.

Again, the "devil is in the details" of the supporting policies.

LOCAL LAW #4: MUNICIPAL LIBRARIES

2009-09-07T08:32:00.001+10:00

Deals with Policies and Procedures at Municipality Libraries (just like it says).

Pretty straightforward and to the point.

LOCAL LAW #3: MUNICIPAL PLACES

2009-09-07T08:31:00.002+10:00

This particular law deals with the conduct and rules and guidelines for Hire and Use of Public Facilities within the Shire. It also purports to deal with "quality of life" issues and nuisance behaviour.

It deals with Buildings, Swimming Pools and Recreation Centers, Pedestrian Malls, Reserves, Municipal Land, Smoking Issues and many other administrative issues surrounding these subjects.

It is worth a look especially to those who use the Public Facilities covered in this document.

LOCAL LAW #2: ENVIRONMENT

2009-09-07T08:30:00.001+10:00

This is a very interesting law and deals with a whole raft of diverse issues that affect us on a day to day basis.

the topics range from dangerous land, junk cars, burning off, animal noise, camping, animals and birds, penalties for infringement, disposal of waste. drainage, open air markets just to touch on a few.

LOCAL LAW #1: COUNCIL

2009-09-06T07:31:00.002+10:00

This law deals primarily with the rules under which the council operates, and for the most part is procedural.

However it is worth a look as these rules establish how meetings are conducted and what rights ratepayers have in meetings.

LOCAL LAW REVIEW BY COUNCIL

2009-09-06T06:13:00.006+10:00

The council is currently reviewing the local laws for revision and this is your chance to review these laws which directly affect you and have an input. These laws were last reviewed and approved in 2005.

Believe it or not there are only 6 local laws to review.

Local Law # 1: Council

Local Law #2: Environment

Local Law #3: Municipal Places

Local Law #4: Municipal Libraries

Local Law #5: Streets and roads

Local Law #6: Consumption of Liquor and Behaviour in Public Places

Whilst the Local law may look rather simple on the surface, it is in the policies supporting these laws where you will find the "devil in the details": So, it is best to review specific policies to see what is really going on.

I will be posting a section on each local law as i review them and you can add your comments. i will compile these comments and provide them to council at the appropriate time during the review process.

Swimming in Debt @ the Rosebud Pool: Desirable, yes ..... but Affordable?

2009-07-26T13:23:00.002+10:00

This is a suggested post by a follower of MornPenCouncilWatch:

I am concerned that the SPA project being pushed by the MornPen Shire is simply not affordable.

I agree that such a facility would be a major benefit for the Rosebud Community but with current Shire Borrowings this project cannot be funded without huge borrowings. The State and Federal governments may chip in $5m but where is the other approximate $15m coming from? Maybe Mr. Hunt and Mr. Dixon could get more $$$ allocated to this project being as they are pushing hard for it.

Current Shire liabilities of $42M (probably more now with additional borrowings) means that we cannot afford such a luxury. To obtain moneys from rates would see immoral percentage increases that would simply not be acceptable to ratepayers.

How much is operating this facility going to cost? Based on Pelican Pantry at Hastings, one can suggest this facility is not going to come cheap. Are we ratepayers ready to dig deep?

It would appear from the form letter being pushed by the Shire that the
Only question is where should it be located. The Shire appears to be pushing for the Rosebud foreshore but I would conclude this is not feasible due to the necessary infrastructure needs (car parking, etc) that such a facility would require and lack of DSE approval. We already give up huge chunks of foreshore land to tourists camping for several months a year at great pain and cost to us locals.

To argue that there used to be a pool at the foreshore site is fair but the SPA project isn't just about a pool. Also, why was the old pool removed? Simple answer is that it suffered major defects due to the location and now the Shire talks about putting a huge development on the same location.

If the project was to proceed, it should not be built in a location where Climate Change pressures will be most apparent. If the project is such a goer, then having SPA located off the foreshore should not be a hindrance to attracting the people to the place.

We ratepayers need to know at what initial cost and ongoing operational and loan interest costs this service/facility is going to be. There is $400K allocated in the coming budget for proposed SPA planning work and one should question whether this money will be well spent based on the questionable ability to fund the total project years down the track.

I would like a luxury motor vehicle and a magnificent mansion but if I can't afford it, I can't have it. SPA is in this same category.

What do other ratepayers think? Do the MornPen Shire need to be told by Ratepayers to back-off.

Absurdities and other Stupidities

2009-07-26T08:45:00.001+10:00

There are many issues with how things are done and some of the stupidities surrounding some decisions.

Currently the shire is going through a law review and this is a chance to make comments on stupid laws and decisions made in the past.

There will be public submissions on the law review so make sure you get involved.
!!!!

Transparency

2009-07-18T15:55:00.002+10:00

The shire tells us over and over and again and again about how transparent they are.

Here is a chance to have your say both positive and negative.

Be specific where possible.

The Community Plan: #5 being Responsive, Accountable, and Forward Looking

2009-07-06T08:21:00.003+10:00

We embrace the principles of continuous improvement and best practice to ensure that we deliver reliable, efficient and effective services to the community. We achieve this through responsible financial management, effective advocacy and engagement, and by highly valuing our people.

Our steps include:

Regularly engaging the community in diverse and innovative ways
Persistently and effectively advocating on issues of community importance
Ensuring we do everything we do, the best way it an be done
managing our finances and risk in a responsible (and responsive) way

Budget Comments

2009-06-19T08:09:00.002+10:00

Give us your comments on the budgeting process for MornPen.

Site any specific information where appropriate.

Chief Executive Contract

2009-05-27T11:02:00.002+10:00

When Dr. Kennedy's last contract was renewed there was quite a roar about it.

The question is why:

Was it because of lack of consultation?
Was it because of job performance?

The issue then becomes:

What do we expect when the next CEO contract is up for renewal?
What should we be looking for in a CEO?
Who should be part of the Selection Process?

Endorsing Councillors

2009-05-14T03:17:00.004+10:00

A big problem we have on MornPen is that we have 11 elected councillors who are elected with 11 agendas and there is no core agenda to work towards in order to eliminate systemic failures of the Shire.

We need to develop a set of core agendas to insure that our elected councillors are thinking from the same page of objectives and then endorse only the candidates who pledge to adhere to these agendas and to support each other in achieving them.

What are your ideas on this?
What core agendas should be considered?

Tourism

2009-05-03T15:04:00.000+10:00

No one would dispute that tourists contribute to the peninsula in many ways, however many ratepayers are concerned that, in the final analysis, tourists do not contribute cash to the shires' income relative to the cash cost to support them and that the shire should investigate ways to have the tourists pay their way.

No matter what the cost to them, tourist numbers will continue to explode and they should contribute more to the cost of running the shire so that ratepayers do not have to subsidize them. Even if they pay more than their fair share.

The shire does not seem to look at tourism as a product line that should generate positive cash flow to the shire coffers. It seems, that for some reason, they think that we have an obligation to provide tourists an inexpensive playground.

Shire Response Time Line

2009-05-03T10:51:00.008+10:00

According to Dr. Michael Kennedy OAM, CEO: it is the policy of the Shire to respond to all written correspondence within 12 working days after receipt. The initial response may be in the form of an acknowledgement should the response require research or further consultation. Mr. Noel Buck, Manager-Governance and Corporate Support, further clarified this to include emails.

Please comment on any experiences you have had on this issue.