Have you ever wondered what is the purpose of your local Council? Why does it exist? I spent 16 years working in local government, and over those years, I came to the following conclusion: A local government authority, a council, has one purpose and one purpose only. That is to sustain the community it serves. In this, it will work to address the issues of the community under its jurisdiction, promote the wellbeing of the community and the individual members of that community and work towards enhancing the quality of life for all members of the community. While the boundaries of its authority will be determined by another level of government primarily through legislation, its purpose is still the same: to sustain the community. Nothing more. Nothing less.
To meet this purpose successfully, a Council will need to employ staff to fulfil a number of essential functions and roles. If they are to sustain a community now and in the future, an extensive range of functions and roles will cover a complex number of operations. Each Council will operate differently but should still aim to sustain the community.
More than the 3 Rs
When we consider the term Council, the first things that comes to mind are the work a Council does in infrastructure design, construction and maintenance, essential services such as waste management, and the collection of rates. These are sometimes called the 3Rs of Local Government: Roads, Rates and Rubbish. But this is the bare minimum a Council should do. If the Council only ensures this baseline is met, the community is not sustained for future growth and development but only for survival.
Even the most conservative and traditional Councils will do more than this. Almost every Council will provide other services such as Libraries, Art Galleries and Performance Spaces. These are important assets and provide spaces where all community sectors can meet. The best thing is that many of these places are free. For example, a Library, on any given day, will find people from all walks of life. While many will be there to use the library’s services, such as books, internet, and printing, others may be there to escape the weather or seek some respite from the world around them.
Engaging and Working With the Community
One of the critical roles a Council has in meeting its purpose of sustaining the community will be engaging with the community and hearing what the community wants from the Council. This is one of the most challenging roles for the organisation. If the only mechanism at their disposal for this is the interaction elected representatives, the councillors will have with individual community members , the information received will likely be skewed. It will depend on how active the councillor is in the community and how open they are to hearing negative and critical feedback. The test of this mechanism is how well the Council as a body takes on board this information if and when the Councillor reports it to the Council meeting.
Engagement Tools a Council Has at its Disposal
So far, we have discussed one engagement tool the Council has, i.e. the interactions of Councillors with the community. The next base tool is social media, webpages and newsletters. These are tools that will be used for one-way communication, i.e. from the council down to the community. They usually don’t allow for a two-way discussion. Let’s look at some real alternatives:
Citizen Boards and Committees
Many councils have established several committees comprising a number of community members. These are usually formed around a social cohort such as a Seniors Advisory Committee, First Nations Steering Committee, or Disability Access Advisory Committee. The committee may be around an issue such as a Homelessness Taskforce or Community Safety Committee. The information from these committees can be fed to the central Council meeting for their consideration.
Citizen Juries
An alternative to these committees is a Citizen jury. These are usually made up of randomly selected community members and basically fulfil the same role as the Advisory Committee.
Community Consultation
A council could use a range of consultation tools to gain information from a community. These could include Surveys, public meetings, and information kiosks. Whatever structure these take, their aim should be to acquire detailed information for residents for feedback to the Council.
Community Development Officers
Many Councils employ Community Development Officers. The Council will determine their role in the Council and will vary between Councils. In a perfect world, they would actively work closely with the community to develop community-building projects designed by the community. However, their role is often limited to facility management, information provision and some event management. This is an opportunity missed. An active Community Development Team provides the Council with so much. As one senior council manager once told me, “The Community Development Team are Council eyes and ears in the community.” A group of staff well-placed like this, trusted by the community, will provide the council with valuable and vital feedback that can be used to ensure the community and its wishes are heard.
Why is a Range of Quality Engagement Tools Necessary?
If a Council is to sustain the community that it serves, it needs to know what the community wants the Council to do. Without such tools, a Council will likely listen to only those with power, such as developers, businesses and tourism providers and not hear what the whole community wishes.
Also, in the event of a natural disaster, the loss of a major employer or a significant accident, the Council will appear out of touch and need to be more knowledgeable in providing and receiving information and an adequate response to the event. This will be because it will not have clear communication channels established and will not know who in the community they can go to for accurate site reports.
A council not engaging well with their community, using a range of engagement tools and being willing to accept negative feedback is a Council not serving its community.
Herding Together 