It seems to me the poor results and deteriorating performance at the City of Greater Bendigo, reflected in the latest Customer Satisfaction Survey, in large part can be traced back to the way council functions.

The fact is senior council officers assume the governance role formulating the draft council plan and budget influenced by special interest groups.

Councillors yelp at the side without the benefit of broad community input.

Sure the community can comment on the drafts, but history shows their ideas ignored.

The fact is officers execute their own plan.

This raises a basic question, what is the point in having councillors or community input under this flawed Local Government model?

My observation is councillors play a minor role (most councillors will say otherwise), signing off on officer recommendations in the main.

To make matters worse, majority councillors’ directions are formed at closed-door “forum meetings” not subject to ratepayer processes or scrutiny.

Public meetings then become the stage to play out the charade; speeches but not real debate.

This travesty is a major reason for ongoing flak council receives in the “letters section” of the papers. Ratepayers are rightly up in arms at such a cockeyed system.

Along with councillor candidates up for election should be those who drive council’s direction – the executive officers; then they would listen to the broader community, be aware not all residents are in a position to afford council’s cost burden or the supposed benefits of certain projects, and not build a bigger bureaucracy. Instead, they and old compliant councillors, groom the new councillors on how the officer system operates.

Fundamental reform is needed.

The current Local Government Review must give ratepayers more of a say, open up councils to more scrutiny, banish secrecy, and correct the power imbalance which favours unelected almost unaccountable executive officers.

As a lover of AFL at all levels, my love of the game is waining to such an extent that I no longer watch  all  games that are televised.

Not only because of the constant rule changes and the AFL hierarchy forever pushing politically correct causes, it is the fact that teams are no longer winning games, but the atrocious and totally inconsistent umpiring, which changes from week to week.  

Leaving players and supporters perplexed and frustrated.