Sack Canning council: report
A report into The City of Canning has been tabled in WA Parliament today calling for the council to be dismissed.
The report by Dr Christopher Kendall contains 91 findings and 10 recommendations, including that the council be dismissed because it “failed to provide for the good government” of people in its district.
The failure was caused by factors that included a lack of transparency in council decisions, lack of community engagement and failings by both the council and the administration.
Those named in the report have 35 days to respond. Local Government Minister Tony Simpson will then make a decision on the recommendations contained in the report.
“In accordance with my obligations under the (local government) act, I will decide what action to take after I have received the responses from the city and suspended members,” he said.
The city has been under the microscope since early 2012, when then local government minister John Castrilli ordered an inquiry into the activities of the city after a breakdown in the relationship between its mayor and chief executive.
The department conducted an eight month investigation, which recommended the council be suspended and a full investigation carried out amid “serious and continuous” failings by the council and individual elected members.
The department’s report found numerous examples of poor decision-making and the adverse influence of a so-called “mayor’s group” in council.
