City of Greater Geraldton council to be reduced by up to eight councillors under new local government reforms

Up to eight councillors could be cut from the City of Greater Geraldton as council considers which pathway they will follow to implement the State Government’s local government reforms. Currently, the City of Geraldton has 12 councillors — although one spot is vacant after the resignation of Peter Fiorenza late last year — and Mayor Shane Van Styn. The City has been provided two options to implement the changes, with council set to decide on a “voluntary pathway” or a “reform election pathway”. CEO Ross McKim explained that whichever pathway council chose, the end result would be the same in terms of the number of councillors. “The reforms require a council of our size to have between, excluding the mayor, four and eight councillors, sometimes you will see five and nine but that includes mayor.” Under the voluntary pathway, the council will consult with the community and determine the number of councillors. However, if they go down the compulsory pathway, Local Government Minister John Carey will determine how many councillors there are. At Tuesday’s agenda forum, Cr Kim Parker said the six-week consultation period was a “complete waste of time”. “We are a forward-thinking council, we elect our own mayor, we got rid of the wards because of the kerfuffle there,” he said. Mr McKim agreed but said the consultation period was compulsory. Cr Simon Keemink questioned if councillors whose term ends in 2023 would be disadvantaged. “I’m up in 2023, I would prefer the alternative option because four councillors are coming in not two,” he said. Mr McKim outlined the process moving forward including getting the community’s feedback but said the outcome would ultimately be determined by council. “If council approves this paper next week, we will be coming up to the next concept forum and providing some more information.” The council will vote on the matter at its ordinary monthly meeting next Tuesday.