Governance
MODULE 2
The Role of a Councillor
The Blue Mountains City Council has 12 Councillors including the Mayor and Deputy Mayor representing 4 Wards within the City. Councillors are elected for a term of four years with the Mayor and Deputy Mayor being elected by the Council each year. The General Manager is appointed by the Council to manage the administration of the Council.
As a member of the governing body of the Council, the role of a Councillor is:
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To direct and control the affairs of the Council in accordance with the Local Government Act 1993;
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To participate in the optimum allocation of the councils resources for the benefit of the area;
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To play a key role in the creation and review of the Councils policies and objectives and criteria relating to the exercise of the Councils regulatory functions; and
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To review the performance of the Council and its delivery of services, and the management plans and revenue policies of the Council.
As an elected person, a Councillor's role is:
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To represent the interests of the residents and ratepayers;
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To provide leadership and guidance to the community; and
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To facilitate communication between the community and the Council.
Council Meetings
Councillors are required to attend regular Council Meetings held at the Blue Mountains City Council headquarters. These meetings are held on a 3 weekly cycle. Previous Council Meeting information including Business Papers, Minutes and Resolutions are available on Council's main website. (www.bmcc.nsw.gov.au/yourcouncil/councilmeetings)
In addition to Council Meetings, Councillors are encouraged to attend weekly briefing sessions and working parties which deal with current issues being addressed by the Council. These briefings and working parties are not decision making forums and are not open to the public.
Councillor Briefing and Working Parties
Each Tuesday night between Council Meetings, Councillors attend Briefing Sessions at 6:00pm.
Councillor Representation on Council Committees
Councillors carry out their roles and responsibilities as both members of Council and Council Committees. The Mayor is always the Chair of a Committee of Council but can delegate this function as well as resume the function at his/her discretion.
Council's Committees are either entirely comprised of Councillors or include Councillors, community members and Council staff.
The Local Government (General) Regulation 2005 under Sections 260 (www.austilii.edu.au) outlines the roles and responsibilities of Council Committees. Section 260 states that Council may, by resolution, establish such committees as it considers necessary. Section 261 of the Regulation requires Council to specify the functions of each of its committees when the committee is established. Council also has the power to amend the functions it allocates to its committees.
Committees of Blue Mountains City Council and Community Committees
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Committees of Council:
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Blaxland Sports Stadium Management Committee
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Blue Mountains Bush Fire Management Committee
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Blue Mountains East Timor Friendship Committee
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Blue Mountains World Heritage Advisory Council
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Community Donations Working Party
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Library Technical Advisory Committee
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Sister City Committee
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Sports Council
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Waste Reference Advisory Committee
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Youth Council Advisory Committee
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Community Committees on which Councillors represent Council:
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Board of Blue Mountains Tourism Ltd
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Community Safety Committee
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Country Public Libraries Association
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Hawkesbury Nepean Catchment Local Government Advisory Group
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Lachlan Regional Transport Committee
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Mountains Community Resource Network Inc Management Committee
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RFS District Liaison Committee
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Sydney Catchment Authority (SCA) Local Government Reference Panel
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Sydney Road Links Committee
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Western Sydney Academy of Sport
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Western Sydney Area Assistance Scheme
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Westpool
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WSROC Limited
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Relationships and Friendship Agreements:
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Sister City Relationships
Blue Mountains City Council currently has two sister cities relationships with Sanda City, Japan and Flagstaff, Arizona USA. (www.bmcc.nsw.gov.au/yourcouncil/sistercities) -
Friendship Agreements
Blue Mountains City Council has a Friendship Agreement with Hato Builico, Timor-Leste. (www.bmcc.nsw.gov.au/yourcouncil/easttimorfriendship) -
World Heritage International Partnerships
The Greater Blue Mountains was announced in 2005 as Australia's 14th World Heritage area. Blue Mountains City Council partnered with Cinque Terre National Park in 2007, also a World Heritage area which is geographically similar to the Blue Mountains. Learn more about World Heritage areas on Council's main website. (www.bmcc.nsw.gov.au/yourcommunity/worldheritagelisting)
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Delegation of functions
A Council may delegate to the General Manager or any other person or body (not including another employee of the Council) any of the functions of the Council. There are restrictions as to what can be delegated, for example, the making of rates cannot be delegated or the fixing of a fee cannot be delegated. (www.austlii.edu.au)
Human Resource considerations
The payment requirements for Councillors are set out by the Department of Local Government. Councillors are not considered a PAYE employee. For further information regarding fee contributions please see Local Government Act 1993 Section 248 to 254. (www.austlii.edu.au)
Councillors are entitled to have Superannuation deducted from their payments. (www.lgsuper.org)
Councillor Responsibilities
The Department of Local Government has recently released a Councillor Guide and a web-based Information Directory for Councillors. The Directory can be accessed at www.dlg.nsw.gov.au under ‘Information for Councils’.
Political Donations and Gifts
Information on requirements for candidates for the Local Government elections is available at the Electoral Commission of NSW website. (www.elections.nsw.gov.au) Information on campaign funding for Local Government elections is at the Electoral Funding Authority website (www.efa.nsw.gov.au).
For the latest information on Political Donations legislation, please refer to the DLG Circular 08-45. In this Circular and the Model Code of Conduct it is a requirement for Councillors to provide a copy of their "Declarations of Political Donations and Electoral Expenditure by an Elected Member, Candidate or Group".
In addition, Councillors also need to make a declaration about any gifts received. It is the General Manager's responsibility to maintain a public register.
All declarations should be forwarded to Executive Services in hard copy or electronically.
