This Friday (July 12) marks four weeks since the Minister for Local Government established Logan's Interim Management Committee (IMC) to support the Interim Administrator, Ms Tamara O'Shea.
Today, Ms O'Shea endorsed the committee's 'Transition to Council' plan which outlines the group's scope of work leading up to the next election in March 2020.
Ms O'Shea said one of the first exercises for the committee was to agree on a broad vision to guide their efforts.
"It was clear when I arrived that the community wanted changes to give them greater confidence in their next elected Council," Ms O'Shea said.
"As a group, the IMC agreed to an ambitious vision that would set the priorities and projects over the next nine months.
"Our IMC's vision is to restore the community's confidence in their Local Government by giving the next elected Council the best possible foundations from which to successfully lead the City of Logan.
"To this end, we have identified opportunities for improvement across a range of areas including governance, planning and performance and community engagement."
In addition, Ms O'Shea said they would use the time leading up to the March 2020 election to develop systems that will improve the preparedness of a newly elected Council.
"Come March next year, the elected members will have a range of tools to help them lead the City of Logan with transparency, confidence in decision-making, and in the best interests of the whole city," she said.
Ms O'Shea also reiterated that while improvements were being sought across various areas of Council, the operations of the organisation and its staff were not related to the elected Council's dismissal.
"Since arriving, I've been incredibly impressed with the staff and services in Council," said Ms O'Shea.
"However, we have a unique opportunity during this time to take a closer look at certain systems and processes and make improvements that will deliver best-practice exemplars for local governments across Queensland."
In considering the opportunities for improvement during this period, Ms O'Shea has asked the IMC to deliver projects that will pave the way for the best possible transition to Council in March 2020.
"The IMC members are contributing a range of insights to these various projects thanks to their expertise, knowledge and lived experiences," she said.
IMC Deputy Chair and former Logan City Council CEO, Mr Gary Kellar, is directing the majority of work related to good governance, while Mr Brent Lillywhite is leading the work on improved decision making.
The four former Councillors on the IMC – Ms Lisa Bradley, Ms Laurie Koranski, Mr Darren Power and Mr Jon Raven – have carriage over a significant body of work aimed at building Councillor capabilities.
They will also be identifying opportunities for new systems in preparedness for the upcoming Belcarra legislation as well as contributing to various policy reviews.
Ms O'Shea said that although it was difficult to finalise the scope of work, she is pleased with the final plan.
"The IMC has a large body of work to get through in a relatively short timeframe, and I want them to have every opportunity to deliver on their agreed priorities," said Ms O'Shea.
"Like Ipswich, our IMC members don't undertake formal community engagement as a regular part of their position – their role is an internal one only.
"We're encouraging the community to make contact with Council through one of the many avenues available for providing feedback, reporting issues or making suggestions.
"It is my hope that future Councillors for Logan can start to play a more strategic role in leading their city.
"We should be expecting more from well-paid Councillors than to be the first port-of-call for reporting maintenance issues and other minor matters.
"Council's award-winning Customer Service teams and the many expert advisors across Council are the best people to go to if residents have questions or feedback."
The 'Transition to Council' plan is available on Council's website.
IMC Members: Tamara O'Shea (Chair), Gary Kellar (Deputy Chair), Brent Lillywhite, Lisa Bradley, Laurie Koranski, Darren Power and Jon Raven.
