Dysfunction at the City of Perth is set to be investigated further, with the local government watchdog launching an inquiry into the problem-plagued council.
Local Government Inspector Tony Brown said the inquiry would yield the “best result” for residents and ratepayers, adding that it would would take about three months and cost about $120,000.
“There are fractured working relationships and ongoing governance issues at the city,” Mr Brown said.
“So this is not a two-year process that happened before that cost $7.2 million. This will be a short and effective way of providing a good outcome for the City of Perth community.”
Mr Brown’s office said it had received 25 complaints involving elected members since the start of this year.
Action needed
In January, the ABC revealed a damning report that found the relationship between council and management was in “crisis”.
That report followed Mr Brown’s appointment of former Kwinana mayor Carol Adams as a monitor to oversee the council and encourage “greater accountability and appropriate decision-making”.
What’s going wrong inside the City of Perth?
Mr Brown said he had presented the city with the monitor’s findings, as well as 12 actions that “focus on the council working together better and their governance processes”.
He did not elaborate on the actions, or the monitor’s findings.
Working together
The inquiry would be the first held by the inspector under a new regime that places councils under significantly more scrutiny than in the past.
The final report of that inquiry can recommend the council, or individual members, be suspended or dismissed, but it would be up to the local government minister to make that decision.
Tony Brown says the City of Perth must set an example for governance. (ABC News: Keane Bourke)
Mr Brown said the council had advised him it would work cooperatively with investigators.
“The City of Perth is the flagship local government of Western Australia, so it needs to be the leader in governance,” he said.
“I don’t think it’s there at the moment, so we’re going to work through that and we want the city to be able to return to providing good governance for its community.”
In a statement, Lord Mayor Bruce Reynolds said he welcomed the inquiry and had always supported independent oversight.
“Importantly, the Inspector noted the council has the inherent institutional capacity to perform effectively. That is an important foundation to build upon,” he wrote.
“We welcome the inquiry as an opportunity for the matters raised to be independently examined, the facts to be established and, where required, clear pathways for action and improvement to be identified.”
Mr Reynolds said the council’s focus remained on “delivering for the people, businesses and visitors who rely on the city every day” and that he believed it would emerge stronger from the process.
‘Conflict spiral’
Problems began emerging in late November, when the City of Perth’s acting CEO resigned after labelling an attempt by Lord Mayor Bruce Reynolds to order a workplace culture review unlawful.
Mr Reynolds later backed down on those plans and announced he would ask the inspector to review the city’s culture.
City of Perth Council will be investigated. (ABC News: Courtney Withers)
Less than two months later, the leaked report made 18 recommendations, which the mayor said he supported.
The report found relations between the CEO and Lord Mayor were in a “conflict spiral”, which required “immediate intervention”.
Mr Reynolds said at the time the council could “absolutely” get its house in order.
Historical problems
The City of Perth has run into problems before.
In 2018, the entire council was stood down after years of scandal and infighting.
A later inquiry found the city’s culture had become dominated by self-interest, complacency and a lack of accountability and transparency.
The report that was leaked in January found “concerning parallels” with the situation at the time and the 2018 collapse of the council.