As a Councillor I believe that the most important thing I must do is to try to have all decisions made as openly as possible so that the residents of Albury know what is being decided, by whom and why. The Local Government Act espouses this as a major principle in fact.
So why are Council meetings some times closed to the public?
The Local Government Act allows this in certain circumstances but in almost all cases leaves the decision to the Councillors of the Local Government area. When commercial matters are to be discussed and the disclosure of information might prejudice the interests of a company, then the matter shoudl be kept confidential.
It aslo allows the Councillors to close a meeting when a personnel matter is being discussed. But if the matter does not disclose any matters of a personal or private nature why should we do this? If it is about a job description or some perfomance parameters for example, why isn't the public entitled to know?
Last Monday we discussed the General Manager's performance agreement - a list of the things by which he will be judged! Why shouldn't the residents of Albury know what he will be judged against? Last November the Council was happy to discuss the amount of money he would receive but we are not allowed to let them know what the matters by which we will judge his performance are.
Seems strange to me and I tried to convince other Councillors that the meeting should be open. Didn't win the vote so will have to try better next time.
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