Council defers decisions on lobby groups
Wednesday July 1, 2009
Cobar Shire Council deferred decisions on a number of issues at last week’s general meeting, with the mayor, deputy mayor and general manager all absent from the meeting.
Councillors elected Cr Marsha Isbester to chair the meeting with Mayor Lilliane Brady, Cr Greg Martin and general manager Ray Smith in Canberra last week attending the Australian Council of Local Government conference.
Councillors elected to defer any decisions on matters including council’s future membership of the Western Division of the Shires Association and membership of the Further Inland Development Organisation (FIDO).
Cr Peter Yench said he felt the two issues required extensive discussion.
“We need our general manager and mayor here for those discussions.
“I believe we need a fairly good talk about it,” Cr Yench said.
The Western Division of the Shires Association has recently resolved to employ a chief executive officer in a bid to increase the effectiveness of the group.
In a report to last week’s council meeting, Mr Smith reported that it is “unlikely” a CEO will be appointed within the next six months.
Cobar Shire Councillors attended the mini conference of the group on June 1 and since then, Mr Smith reported, “there has been significant discussion amongst councillors in respect to the value of remaining a member of this organisation”.
Also earlier this month, councillors called for a report on the background of FIDO, with a proposal put forward by the organisation’s managing director Werner Muhlethaler to “wind up” the group.
Mr Smith reported a letter was sent to all known members of FIDO calling for comments on the proposal.
“Out of a total of 24 letters there have only be two responses, both of which concur with the winding up of FIDO,” Mr Smith reported.
There have been no full meetings of the organisation since October 2005.
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