Council to consider revised Code of Conduct
January 29, 2017
Colac Otway Shire’s newly elected Council will consider a revised code of conduct this week.
The revised code provides a clear roadmap for councillors to work positively with each other, the organisation and the community, Mayor Chris Potter has said.
Cr Potter said councillors had come together over several occasions and conducted a ‘line-by-line’ review of the code with a view to creating a document that reflected how the new Council team wanted to work together.
He said that all seven councillors had attended sessions held during January and had been encouraged to contribute to the preparation of the new code.
“We want to be a Council that’s remembered for the decisions we make, not necessarily the process that got us to those decisions.
“We maintain that it’s healthy to disagree, but it’s how we disagree that matters.
“Our priority is to be collaborative, respectful, honest, hard-working and true representatives of this community, and I believe this code sets out the ground rules for helping us to achieve that.”
Cr Potter said the new code provided clarity regarding media interaction and the use of social media.
“During the process of revising the code, Councillors indicated their strong commitment to working constructively as a team and a big part of this is recognising that the comments we make as individuals are likely to be interpreted as representing the views of the whole Council,” Cr Potter said.
“Under revisions made to the code, the Mayor remains the primary spokesperson but there is greater clarity so that individual councillors have opportunity to make comments and share information in a manner which accurately and fairly portrays the Council position and which is respectful of Council's decisions.”
He said the Council had also streamlined the code so that it was shorter, easier to read and clarified expectations that all Councillors would promptly pass on things such as enquiries, complaints and requests for service that they receive from the community so that they could be dealt with as quickly as possible, ensuing the best possible service to residents.
Cr Potter said the updated code reinforced the values of the new Council and he looked forward to all seven councillors working together in a way that embodied those values.
The revised Code of Conduct will be considered for adoption by Council this Wednesday at a Special Council Meeting at COPACC at 4pm.
Council Enquiries
(03) 5232 9400