What should councillor's drive

Discussion in 'Living Room' started by MTR, 1st Dec, 2015.

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  1. Chilliblue

    Chilliblue Well-Known Member

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    Agree with @Bayview. The councillors should be driving the same vehicles afforded to the other council staff.
     
  2. Bayview

    Bayview Well-Known Member

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    LOL! gotta allow for the "postcode".

    On that; in the Golf World; it is a really bad career move for a Club Pro at a Golf Club to drive into the car park in a better car than the Members drive.

    You actually have to drive a worse car in some instances. :rolleyes:

    Mate of mine was the Pro at a reasonably high-end private Golf Club for 25 years; only ever owned silver Ford Falcons; kept replacing the old with the exact same new one when the time came.

    Talk about Tall Poppys.
     
  3. Ed Barton

    Ed Barton Well-Known Member

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    And armoured. Not just one either, nine of them!
     
  4. AndrewTDP

    AndrewTDP Well-Known Member

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    That really depends on the individual Council. Some allow for any vehicle to be done as a leaseback option, others only have pool cars, others have a fleet of cars that get allocated to particular staff.

    There was a director of planning who had a Lotus Elise as a Council car - her pay grade was allowed a bonus for buying a green car - and because of low weight and small engine an Elise is fuel efficient. Much more interesting than the other option of a Lexus Hybrid thing.

    Australia seems to spend half it's time moaning about the poor standards of local government. The other half of the time moaning about them being paid an amount that might actually attract a decent standard.
     
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  5. 380

    380 Well-Known Member

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    Merc c180 is most common car on road for 2015...
    Let them have some fun!!!!
     
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  6. Scott No Mates

    Scott No Mates Well-Known Member

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    Why? The councilors are effectively the bored (sic) of directorsof the council. I do not expect to see directors slumming it unless there is a uniform policy in place for the use of electric vehicles or hybrids (so you can have a Tesla).
     
  7. sanj

    sanj Well-Known Member Premium Member

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    This was i believe the mayor and not a councillor and he spent the same as previous mayors, 65k was i believe the allowance. Only difference is he got a Benz instead of some luxury holden like others have; it's a true non event and not even worth discussing,
     
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  8. Chilliblue

    Chilliblue Well-Known Member

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    As a rate payer, you would expect your council to run a lean ship. Where would you draw the line with regards to what a Mayor can get away with?
     
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  9. AndrewTDP

    AndrewTDP Well-Known Member

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    So instead of wasting 65k on a top of the line Holden that will lose huge amounts in value and is generally inefficient, the mayor used the same amount to be a much more fuel efficient car that has much better resale value, creating lower overall costs for Council.

    But yet, somehow, perverse badge snobbery means that this was a bad move.

    @Chilliblue given that the actual budget has not changed, just the brand of car that was purchased, what is the actual problem here?
     
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  10. Bayview

    Bayview Well-Known Member

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    Councillors - I would have hoped and assumed - get on to these Councils in the hope of making a difference in their Community..they are not there/should not be there for the remuneration/perks...so; the car on offer should be completely irrelevant to them wanting to be there.....I would assume.

    Silly me.

    But in reality, with Councils (and Committees) - you get a wide variety of folks instead - with all sorts of agendas; ranging from the person who actually has the right motives to be there, right up to the ****** who has too much time on his/her hands and/or is simply an egomaniac who wants to gain some power and "fame" for the sake of it and has bugger-all idea and/or concern about anything relating to Council stuff.

    Further to that; if I was on the local Council and was in line for a ripper ride at taxpayer's expense, and knowing how folks think about these sorts of "unjustified" perks; just out of principal I would be handing back the keys to my "budgeted for" BMW/Merc and asking for a car on a much cheaper budget, and one that the locals won't be screaming at me for driving....simple respect and empathy for the locals is the issue.
     
    Last edited: 2nd Dec, 2015
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  11. Scott No Mates

    Scott No Mates Well-Known Member

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    @Chilliblue - the answer isn't a simple y/n. Is the mayoral role voluntary or a paid position? What is the revenue of the council? What are the demographics? Is it a novated lease or a council asset?
     
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  12. AndrewTDP

    AndrewTDP Well-Known Member

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    A comment about Council staff as well.

    There area few people in my local area kicking up a stink because council staff are "given" Subaru Foresters. What it actually is is that Council uses fleet status to get a discount on those cars which the employees can then lease through salary sacrifice. It's a big difference.

    Given the hours that Councillors work, the amount of complaints and whingers they get at all hours, day and night, I don't bemoan them utilising the OLG approved salary system to get a particular brand of car, when it is within the same pay scale as previous mayors.

    It comes down to lack of basic fact checking by the get outraged about everything brigade. The $$$ difference between a Holden Caprice and a base model C Class Merc is nothing. But that doesn't stop people getting outraged about a non story out of petty jealousy.
     
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  13. Bayview

    Bayview Well-Known Member

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    Andrew, I mostly agree with you. But; perception is reality.

    The average folks only see blokes/chicks swanning around in a high-end car while the Council appears to do bugger-all around the neighborhood and waste the taxpayers' money on themselves and their cars...the average folks don't see the hours a person actually works behind the scenes. But no-one forces them to do the job.

    I don't agree with the bit about; "but this is what previous Mayors had". That sounds like a 5 year old who got one less lollie than his brother. The car should not matter if their intentions are correct for the position, and who cares what the last bloke drove? He might have been rorting the joint.

    A Mayor is a bit different I will admit; if that is a full-time salaried position, then it would be fair to say that you want the best person for that job, and pay them accordingly.

    In the real world; you don't always get the best person in these sorts of roles (see previous post). You get the person "who is available", or who has greased enough palms to get the office and so on.

    Most average folks don't view a Mayor like they do say; the PM, so their general view is that the Mayor probably shouldn't be driving a top-end vehicle given the "lesser" office.

    Bottom line; you are working for the People; keep it humble is probably the best approach.
     
    Last edited: 2nd Dec, 2015
  14. inertia

    inertia Well-Known Member

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    I want government representatives to be appropriately remunerated - if for no other reason than to reduce the temptation of shady dealings. It annoys me when people carry on about the salary of the PM or other elected peoples - I'd suggest in most cases they are actually under paid. Similarly with the controversy around claiming expenses, and pollies paying back for expenses that are within the guidelines because the Dailly Terror gets all up in arms. Sure, don't hold a party fund raiser in the speaker of the house offices, and don't catch a helicopter when other transport options are not that much slower and WAAAAAY cheaper, but there is no need for politicians to be paupers.

    Joe Public tends to over react and not care about the specific details, which seems to be the case here.

    Cheers,
    Inertia.
     
  15. AndrewTDP

    AndrewTDP Well-Known Member

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    But if we expect mayors to do it out of love for the community, do you honestly think the quality of candidate would improve?

    Maybe we should reduce the pay of MPs to 25k PA as well. The PM can drop down to 30k in line with what Mayors get. That way we can ensure that the people doing it are only doing it for the best intentions...

    Those in public office should be appropriately remunerated. Those that go in for over the top perks (i.e. helicopter for a 1hr trip) should be castigated. But getting worked up over a car because you don't understand how much things cost? Really? That's what passes for political activism now?
     
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  16. sanj

    sanj Well-Known Member Premium Member

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    mayor. not councillor. it is a position with significnt responsibility and in this case of what i believe is perth's biggest council. 65k is not unreasonable.
     
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  17. Bayview

    Bayview Well-Known Member

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    To be fair; I reckon most Mayors are there because they are genuinely wanting to help their Community, and some are also wealthy in their own right, so the level/brand of their car is meaningless to them..
     
  18. Bayview

    Bayview Well-Known Member

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    Agree.

    In fact; $65k for a position of that level (especially if it is full-time) is nowhere near enough...add another $100k to that.
     
  19. twobobsworth

    twobobsworth Well-Known Member

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    It's the general manager that runs the show at the council, not the mayor anyway. Our local GM is on about $400K per year.
     
  20. Westminster

    Westminster Tigress at Tiger Developments Business Member

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    That was the only information I could find too @sanj. That it was the CEO and the Mayor not the Councillors. At their pay grade and the fact that it is owned by the council not him - ie not a gift it is part of his package and for use whilst Mayor/CEO.
    With all that, I don't think it's unreasonable for them to have a $65k car
     
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