Agenda of Extraordinary Council Meeting

Extraordinary Council Meeting 1 September 2015

2.1 2015 Election of Mayor and Deputy Mayor

TRIM REFERENCE: 2015/2007

AUTHOR: Michelle Catlin, Manager Administration and Governance

EXECUTIVE Summary

Council is required to elect the Mayor and Deputy Mayor each year in September. The process for the election is prescribed in this report, and seeks Council’s resolution of the method of voting to be used. The Acting General Manager is the Returning Officer and will conduct the election process.

Link To Delivery/OPerational Plan

The recommendation in this report relates to the Delivery/Operational Plan strategy “1.1 Our City - Provide easily obtainable information on the legal responsibilities of Councillors, Council staff and the community”.

Financial Implications

Nil

Policy and Governance Implications

The Local Government Act 1993 and associated regulations provide the methods of voting for the election of Mayor and Deputy Mayor.

Recommendation

1 That the method of voting for the election of Mayor and Deputy Mayor be Ordinary Ballot.

2 That the Acting General Manager, acting as Returning Officer, conduct the 2015 Election for the Mayor and Deputy Mayor.

further considerations

Consideration has been given to the recommendation’s impact on Council’s service delivery; image and reputation; political; environmental; health and safety; employees; stakeholders and project management; and no further implications or risks have been identified.

SUPPORTING INFORMATION

As required by the Local Government Act 1993, it is necessary for the Council to elect the Mayor and Deputy Mayor.

The procedure to be followed for the conduct of the Elections is to be in accordance with Schedule 7 of the Local Government (General) Regulation 2005 which states (in part):

1 The Acting General Manager is the Returning Officer.

2 a) A Councillor may be nominated without notice for election as Mayor or Deputy Mayor

b) The nomination is to be made in writing by two or more Councillors (one of whom may be the nominee). The nomination is not valid unless the nominee has indicated consent to the nomination in writing

c) The nomination is to be delivered or sent to the Returning Officer

d) The Returning Officer is to announce the names of the nominees at the Council Meeting at which the election is to be held.

Nominations can be lodged in a locked ballot box, which is located in the General Manager’s office and will be in the Council Chamber prior to the Meeting. Two nomination forms have been provided with this report.

At the start of the meeting, the Returning Officer will unlock the box and announce the nominated Councillors for the position of Mayor. Nominated Councillors will be given the opportunity to decline nomination for position of Mayor at this time.

Upon completion of the election for Mayor, the same procedure will be repeated for the election of Deputy Mayor.

The Election count and procedures for nominations, as set out in the Local Government (General) Regulation 2005 Schedule 7, are detailed below:

Election

3 (1) If only one Councillor is nominated, that Councillor is elected.

(2) If more than one Councillor is nominated, the Council is to resolve whether the election is to proceed by preferential ballot, by ordinary ballot or by open voting.

(3) The election is to be held at the Council Meeting at which the Council resolves on the method of voting.

(4) “ballot” has its normal meaning of secret ballot

“open voting” means voting by a show of hands or similar means.

Ordinary Ballot or Open Voting

Marking of Ballot Papers

5 (1) If the election proceeds by ordinary ballot, the Returning Officer is to decide the manner in which votes are to be marked on the ballot-papers.

(2) The formality of a ballot-paper under this Part must be determined in accordance with clause 345 (1) (b) and (c) and (6) of this Regulation as if it were a ballot-paper referred to in that clause.

(3) An informal ballot-paper must be rejected at the count.

Count - 2 Candidates

6 (1) If there are only 2 candidates, the candidate with the higher number of votes is elected.

(2) If there are only 2 candidates and they are tied, the one elected is to be chosen by lot.

Count - 3 or more candidates

7 (1) If there are 3 or more candidates, the one with the lowest number of votes is to be excluded.

(2) If 3 or more candidates remain, a further vote is taken of those candidates and the one with the lowest number of votes from that further vote is to be excluded.

(3) If, after that, 3 or more candidates still remain, the procedure set out in subclause (2) is to be repeated until only 2 candidates remain.

(4) A further vote is to be taken of the 2 remaining candidates.

(5) Clause 6 of this Schedule then applies to the determination of the election as if the 2 remaining candidates had been the only candidates.

(6) If at any stage during a count under subclause (1) or (2), 2 or more candidates are tied on the lowest number of votes, the one excluded is to be chosen by lot.

Preferential Ballot

Ballot-papers and Voting

9 (1) The ballot-papers are to contain the names of all the candidates. The Councillors are to mark their votes by placing the numbers ‘1’, ‘2’ and so on against the various names so as to indicate the order of their preference for all the candidates.

(2) The formality of a ballot-paper under this Part is to be determined in accordance with clause 345 (1) (b) and (c) and (5) of this Regulation as if it were a ballot-paper referred to in that clause.

(3) An informal ballot-paper must be rejected at the count.

Count

10 (1) If a candidate has an absolute majority of first preference votes, that candidate is elected.

(2) If not, the candidate with the lowest number of first preference votes is excluded and the votes on the unexhausted ballot-papers counted to him or her are transferred to the candidates with second preference on those ballot-papers.

(3) A candidate who then has an absolute majority of votes is elected, but, if no candidate then has an absolute majority of votes, the process of excluding the candidate who has the lowest number of votes and counting each of his or her unexhausted ballot-papers to the candidates remaining in the election next in order of the voter’s preference is repeated until one candidate has received an absolute majority of votes. The latter is elected.

(4) In this clause, absolute majority, in relation to votes, means a number that is more than one-half of the number of unexhausted formal ballot-papers.

In the past, Council has nominated to conduct the election of Mayor and Deputy Mayor by Ordinary Ballot and therefore that method of voting is recommended.

Choosing by Lot

11 To choose a candidate by lot, the names of candidates who have equal numbers of votes are written on similar slips of paper by the Returning Officer, the slips are folded by the Returning Officer so as to prevent the names being seen, the slips are mixed and one is drawn at random by the Returning Officer and the candidate whose name is on the drawn slip is chosen.

Result

12 The result of the election (including the name of the candidate elected as Mayor or Deputy Mayor) is:

a) To be declared to the Councillors at the Council Meeting at which the election is held by the Returning Officer; and

b) To be delivered or sent to the Chief Executive of the Office of Local Government and to the Secretary of Local Government New South Wales.

Timing of Mayoral Election

Section 290 of the Local Government Act requires that the election of the Mayor is held:

a) If it is the first election after an ordinary election of Councillors within 3 weeks after the ordinary election, or

b) If it is not that first election or an election to fill a casual vacancy during the month of September.

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ORANGE CITY COUNCIL

NOMINATION FOR THE POSITION OF MAYOR

(Under Schedule 7, Local Government (General) Regulation 2005)

We, the undersigned, hereby nominate __________________________________________

for the position of MAYOR for the 2015/2016 Term of Office.

** A minimum of two nominators is required**

Nominator
	Name	Signed


Nominator
	Name	Signed


Nominator
	Name	Signed


Nominator
	Name	Signed



		Date 2015

I,________________________________________ CONSENT TO MY NOMINATION FOR THE

POSITION OF MAYOR FOR THE 2015/2016 TERM OF OFFICE

SIGNED ____________________________ DATE __________________________

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ORANGE CITY COUNCIL

NOMINATION FOR THE POSITION OF DEPUTY MAYOR

(Under Schedule 7, Local Government (General) Regulation 2005)

We, the undersigned, hereby nominate __________________________________________

for the position of DEPUTY MAYOR for the 2015/2016 Term of Office.

** A minimum of two nominators is required**

Nominator
	Name	Signed


Nominator
	Name	Signed


Nominator
	Name	Signed


Nominator
	Name	Signed



		Date 2015

I,________________________________________ CONSENT TO MY NOMINATION FOR THE

POSITION OF DEPUTY MAYOR FOR THE 2015/2016 TERM OF OFFICE

SIGNED ____________________________ DATE __________________________

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Extraordinary Council Meeting 1 September 2015

2.2 Policy Committees of Council

TRIM REFERENCE: 2015/2008

AUTHOR: Michelle Catlin, Manager Administration and Governance

EXECUTIVE Summary

Council has established Policy Committees and delegated authority to those Committees to determine a range of matters, except where a resolution would cause expenditure outside Council’s adopted Delivery/Operational Plan.

Link To Delivery/OPerational Plan

The recommendation in this report relates to the Delivery/Operational Plan strategy “1.2 Our City - Information and advice provided for the decision-making process will be succinct, reasoned, accurate, timely and balanced”.

Financial Implications

Nil

Policy and Governance Implications

Nil

Recommendation

1 That Council establish the following Policy Committees from October 2015:

a Infrastructure

b Employment and Economic Development

c Sport and Recreation

d Environmental Sustainability

e Services

f Planning and Development

g Finance

2 That Council determine the Chairperson for each Policy Committee for the ensuing twelve months.

3 That Council adopt the Charters for each Policy Committee.

further considerations

SUPPORTING INFORMATION

Council considered a Mayoral Minute at the meeting held on 18 August 2015 where a review of the Policy Committee structure was supported. Council determined it would add two new committees to create the list of committees in the recommendation. Changes include the following:

· Addition of Employment and Economic Development Policy Committee

· Addition of Sport and Recreation Policy Committee

· Environmental and Economic Development Committee becomes the Environmental Sustainability Committee

· Sustainable Development Committee becomes the Planning and Development Policy Committee

· The community committees reporting through the Policy Committees have been adjusted as follows – membership as resolved in December 2014 has not been changed but the Policy Committee each one reports through has been altered in some cases.

The new Community Committee Structure is proposed as follows:

Committee

Current members

Policy Committee

Currently Meets

Audit and Risk Management Committee

Cr Davis and Cr Gryllis

Finance

Quarterly, first Friday at 9am

Economic Development	Cr Whitton, Cr Duffy, Cr Kidd, Cr Jones, Cr Gryllis	Employment and Economic Development	Monthly, first Wednesday at 8am
Orange Health	Cr Gryllis, Cr Kidd	Employment and Economic Development	Quarterly, third Monday at 7.30am
Sister Cities	Cr Gryllis, Cr Duffy, Cr Turner	Employment and Economic Development	Quarterly, second Wednesday at 5.30pm

Companion Animals	Cr Jones, Cr Kidd	Environmental Sustainability	Quarterly, first Monday at 4pm
Tidy Towns	Cr Gander, Cr Gryllis, Cr Munro	Environmental Sustainability	As required
Environmental Sustainability	Cr Jones, Cr Kidd, Cr Turner, Cr Duffy	Environmental Sustainability	Quarterly, third Friday at 8.00am

Committee	Current members	Policy Committee	Currently Meets
Orange Airport	Cr Gryllis, Cr Duffy, Cr Kidd	Infrastructure	Six monthly, third Wednesday at 5pm
City of Orange Traffic	Cr Turner, Cr Munro (alternate)	Infrastructure	Monthly, second Tuesday at 10am
Macquarie Pipeline	Cr Brown, Cr Turner	Infrastructure	As required

Spring Hill	Cr Duffy, Cr Gander	Services	Six monthly, fourth Monday at 5.30pm
Lucknow	Cr Gander, Cr Duffy	Services	Six monthly, second Monday at 5.30pm
Clifton Grove	Cr Duffy	Services	Six monthly, fourth Thursday at 5.30pm
Ageing and Access Community	Cr Jones, Cr Kidd, Cr Gander	Services	Quarterly, first Thursday at 3pm
Cultural Heritage	Cr Kidd, Cr Jones, Cr Gander	Services	Quarterly, second Monday at 5.00pm
Community Safety and Crime Prevention	Cr Hamling, Cr Gander	Services	Quarterly, second Monday at 5.30pm
Orange and Cabonne Road Safety	Cr Duffy	Services	As required
NAIDOC Week	Cr Jones, Cr Turner	Services	Weekly, Friday 10am
Orange Regional Museum	Cr Gander, Cr Jones, Cr Kidd, Cr Turner	Services	As required
Centenary of World War I	Cr Davis, Cr Kidd, Cr Taylor	Services	As required
Orange Planetarium	Cr Gryllis, Cr Taylor, Cr Duffy, Cr Jones	Services	As required

Committee	Current members	Policy Committee	Currently Meets
Sport and Recreation	Cr Davis, Cr Hamling, Cr Duffy, Cr Munro	Sport and Recreation	Six monthly, fourth Thursday at 9am
Orange Showground	Cr Davis, Cr Duffy, Cr Gander, Cr Turner	Sport and Recreation	Six monthly, first Thursday at 4.30pm
Australia Day	Cr Davis, Cr Kidd	Sport and Recreation	As required
Bicycling Community	Cr Brown, Cr Duffy	Sport and Recreation	Quarterly, first Monday at 5pm
Parks, Trees and Waterways	Cr Jones, Cr Kidd	Sport and Recreation	Quarterly, last Monday of the month at 5.30pm

External Appointments

Council also annually appoints members of the following external entities. The current membership is shown.

Organisation	Current Representative
Association of Mining Related Councils	Mayor Cr Whitton, Cr Kidd, Cr Gryllis, Cr Gander (alternates)
Business Enterprise Centre	Cr Brown
Central West Libraries	Cr Davis
Chamber of Commerce	Cr Kidd
Bushfire Liaison Committee	Cr Duffy
Bushfire Management Committee	Cr Duffy
Orange Regional Arts Foundation	Cr Brown
Skillset	Cr Taylor
Arts Outwest	Was previously filled by a staff member

Nomination forms for the position of Chairperson are attached. Councillors may nominate for the position of Chairperson at any time prior to the meeting, and at the meeting following a call by the Returning Officer for nominations.

Also attached are the charters of each of the Policy Committees. The new Committees have had Charters drafted and the structure shown above of how the Community Committees will report is reflected in each charter. In response to a question raised by a Councillor, none of the Policy Committee Charters identify a casting vote for the Chairperson in the Charters.

Attachments

1 Charter - Infrastructure Policy Committee - 2015, D15/31770 ⇩

2 Charter - Employment and Economic Development Policy Committee - (2015), 2015/2220 ⇩

3 Charter - Sport and Recreation Policy Committee - (2015), 2015/2221 ⇩

4 Charter - Environmental Sustainability Policy Committee - (2015), 2015/2222 ⇩

5 Charter - Services Policy Committee - (2015), 2015/2219 ⇩

6 Charter - Planning and Development Committee - (2015), 2015/2224 ⇩

7 Charter - Finance Policy Committee - (2015), 2015/2223 ⇩

8 Nomination form - Chairperson - Policy Committee, D15/31558 ⇩

Extraordinary Council Meeting 1 September 2015

2.2 Policy Committees of Council

Attachment 8 Nomination form - Chairperson - Policy Committee

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ORANGE CITY COUNCIL

NOMINATION FOR THE POSITION OF CHAIRPERSON FOR THE

..................................................................................................................... POLICY COMMITTEE

(Under Schedule 7, Local Government (General) Regulation 2005)

I, hereby nominate __________________________________________

for the position of Chairperson of the above Policy Committee for the 2015/2016 Term of Office.

I,________________________________________ CONSENT TO MY NOMINATION FOR THE

POSITION OF CHAIRPERSON FOR THE 2015/2016 TERM OF OFFICE

SIGNED ____________________________ DATE __________________________

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ORANGE CITY COUNCIL

NOMINATION FOR THE POSITION OF CHAIRPERSON FOR THE

..................................................................................................................... POLICY COMMITTEE

(Under Schedule 7, Local Government (General) Regulation 2005)

I, hereby nominate __________________________________________

for the position of Chairperson of the above Policy Committee for the 2015/2016 Term of Office.

I,________________________________________ CONSENT TO MY NOMINATION FOR THE

POSITION OF CHAIRPERSON FOR THE 2015/2016 TERM OF OFFICE

SIGNED ____________________________ DATE __________________________

Extraordinary Council Meeting 1 September 2015

2.3 Dates for Meetings of Council and the Time Required for Notice of Meetings

TRIM REFERENCE: 2015/2009

AUTHOR: Michelle Catlin, Manager Administration and Governance

EXECUTIVE Summary

The Local Government Act 1993 requires Council to determine when ordinary meetings of the Council are to occur and also the time and manner of notice of ordinary meetings.

Link To Delivery/OPerational Plan

Financial Implications

Nil

Policy and Governance Implications

Council’s Code of Meeting Practice requires that notice for ordinary and extraordinary meetings be at least three days prior to the meeting. Notice of less than three days may be given if an extraordinary meeting is called for an emergency situation.

Recommendation

1 That meetings be held as follows:

a One meeting per month of the Ordinary Policy Committees, being the Planning and Development Committee, Finance Policy Committee, Infrastructure Policy Committee, Services Policy Committee, Employment and Economic Development Policy Committee, Sport and Recreation Policy Committee and Environmental Sustainability Policy Committee, be held on the first Tuesday of each month commencing at 7pm.

b A public forum be scheduled, where required, at the commencement of the Ordinary Policy Committee meetings.

c One Ordinary Council meeting be held per month on the third Tuesday of each month commencing at 7pm.

d Briefings be generally held on the second Tuesday of each month if required, commencing at 6pm and if an additional briefing is required in the month, that they be held on the third Thursday of the month commencing at 6pm.

2 That the notice of ordinary and extraordinary meetings of Council be at least three days prior to the meeting (notice of less than three days may be given if an extraordinary meeting is called for an emergency).

FURTHER CONSIDERATIONS

supporting information

Council’s current resolution is that one meeting per month of the Ordinary Policy Committees, being the Planning and Development Committee, Finance Policy Committee, Infrastructure Policy Committee, Services Policy Committee, Employment and Economic Defvelopment Policy Committee, Sport and Recreation Policy Committee and Environmental Sustainability Policy Committee, be held on the first Tuesday of each month commencing at 7pm and one Ordinary Council meeting held per month on the third Tuesday of each month commencing at 7pm.

Council conducts a public forum, where required, at the commencement of the Ordinary Policy Committee meetings.

Council has previously resolved to hold briefings, when required, on the second Tuesday of the month. At a recent briefing, Council identified that when additional briefings are required in the month that they be scheduled for the third Thursday of the month.

It is recommended that this schedule be endorsed, and that the time required for the notice of meetings be confirmed as a minimum of three days prior to the meeting