‘Betterment of Albany’ should be front of mind for anyone willing to run for council, says outgoing mayor

Community members interested in shaping Albany’s future as councillors are being encouraged to engage in workshops run by the WA Local Government Association and the City of Albany in the lead-up to the October ordinary election. Outgoing Mayor Dennis Wellington said a good councillor was someone who is open-minded, willing to listen and learn, and did it for the betterment of Albany. He said “if your intent is for the betterment of Albany, then you are going to have a pretty enjoyable time on council” but the role demanded a certain amount of time from those elected. “Time to attend things, time to read, time to absorb and time to empathise with other councillors about what is going to be good for a town,” he said. Local government reforms coming into effect will see the number of councillors reduced from 12 to 10 at this year’s election. As the terms of six councillors come to an end, they will be replaced by just four winning candidates. The election will also be the City’s first without a ward system. Instead of winning their ward to earn a seat on the council for a four-year term, candidates will have to poll in the top four nominees overall. At the 2021 local government election, 22 people were nominated for the council but, because of the ward system, some only had to come out on top in a two-horse race while others campaigned against four or more. Mr Wellington, who served as a councillor from 2001 before being elected as mayor a decade later, said the role of an Albany councillor often demanded more time than the position did in other local governments. He said all councillors attended two committee meetings in the second week of the month, followed by a workshop the following week and then the ordinary council meeting in the final week of the month. “A lot of other councils only have one meeting and they take four or five hours,” he said. “I think a council meeting should take an hour because all the work should be done prior to that. “The only reason it extends past that is because you get public question time, the actual body of the meeting should take an hour.” Committee meetings often run longer than two hours as they allow for a back-and-forth between councillors and City staff on the reasoning behind recommendations and the implications of alternative actions. As well as regularly scheduled meetings, councillors are expected to attend a number of functions and events which often take place outside of normal business hours. Mr Wellington said those willing to approach the role with an open mind could learn to become a good councillor and that it often took “two years to learn about the intricacies that are involved around working in local government”. He said the one lesson he always tried to relay to councillors was to get both sides of a story before speaking. “If you don’t have both sides of the story, then 50 per cent of the time you are going to open your mouth and be wrong,” he said. “It is very much a gilded lily when you get someone’s story because there is always another side that is totally different. “You need to be able to get both sides.” A webinar for those thinking about putting their hand up will take place on August 14 at 6pm. The session will be hosted by WALGA, the Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries and the WA Electoral Commission. Attendance must be registered online at https://bit.ly/3DNhsRK The City also plans to run in-person workshops ahead of the election but has yet to lock in dates. Contact councilliaison@albany.wa.gov.au to register interest in order to be kept up to date with when the workshops are scheduled.