Former councillor calls for public register of city progress on council motions for better transparency

A former Kalgoorlie-Boulder councillor has called for the city to establish a public register of the status of all approved councillor-raised motions for greater transparency and accountability. Voicing his “disappointment” at what he says is a lack of action taken on two of his own supported motions from his final months on council in 2023, John Matthew questioned what process was taken to ensure motions were implemented and executed. City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder chief executive Andrew Brien did not directly answer questions from the Kalgoorlie Miner about whether such a register existed or could be made public. Mr Brien said all motions raised and passed were recorded in the minutes of each meeting, which were available on the city’s website. “Updates on the status of motions are provided to elected members on a regular basis, including through monthly council workshops and forums,” he said. Mr Brien also did not directly answer whether he had the power to disregard the decisions of council, but stated city officers were responsible for reviewing and progressing passed motions. Mr Matthew said there needed to be a better mechanism in place to hold the city accountable for all motions passed by council, particularly ones raised by councillors themselves. “I naively assumed that if council pass a motion, unanimous or not, that it’s going to get executed,” he said. “My take is that things will only happen if the council officer sees it as a priority. “If they don’t, they seem to hold the power of determining whether a motion is in fact executed.” Having left Kalgoorlie-Boulder at the end of his term, Mr Matthew said it was hard to watch from the sidelines as things he “poured his heart into” were disregarded. “If councillors or prospective councillors can’t be assured that they’re going to be able to make some sort of positive difference when they’re there, then why bother?” he said. “I’m bloody disappointed. I would like to think the people who go and stand for council and get elected genuinely want to make a difference and believe they will be able to do something for their community. “So I guess this is born a little bit out of frustration because that’s not exactly the case.” Mr Matthew raised two motions before finishing his term that were supported around the table. His Community Standards Policy — which aims to see buildings and public areas better presented — has been passed by council since Mr Matthew’s departure, but he says he is yet to see evidence of any improvements made across town. The second motion called for a policy to be established enabling partnerships with major stakeholders to help improve presentation at local facilities and roads. Mr Matthew said a previous councillor had his motion for traffic-calming devices to be installed in alleyways in the Kalgoorlie CBD to protect pedestrians passed, but he believed no action was taken. He challenged all local governments to have a public register highlighting all the motions passed by council and whether they have been executed.