Cash for pet tasks

By Jim Mynard
CASEY Council has allocated $17,000 to each councillor for expenditure in his or her ward on projects of their choice.
Councillors voted the money to be allocated in this way in preference to leaving it in the proposed Cranbourne Aquatic and Leisure Centre building allocation account.
Councillors must identify projects in their wards to officers by Monday, 30 April.
The money came available as part of a $1.1 million underexpenditure shown in the midyear budget review.
Casey’s director of corporate affairs, Steve Dalton, said in a report to the Tuesday, 6 March, council meeting that savings of $808,000 were made in the operating budget and $287,000 in the capital works program.
He recommended that the money be applied to the metropolitan trail network $228,250, a Casey Chiefs Junior Rugby League Club field $65,000, Doveton skate facility $30,000, signs to promote emergency radio stations $3000, Stevenson’s Road Landfill $580,000, and the aquatic centre $188,750.
Councillors disagreed with $188,750 going toward the aquatic centre and voted that it be deferred to the next annual budget.
This meant the money would be available for councillors to eke out to pet projects in their wards.
Mr Dalton told councillors that they needed to be comfortable with spending the money in that way.
Edrington Ward councillor Mick Morland said the money should not be taken from the aquatic centre because it was a fantastic project proposed for the City of Casey.
“That money has been earmarked for the centre and should be left there,” he said.
But River Gum Ward councillor Janet Halsall said any councillor who voted against the motion should not take the allocation.
River Gum Ward councillor Wayne Smith said the money would be used in each ward to provide benefits to the community.
“The money will be well spent and well appreciated,” he said.
Cr Morland said after the meeting that councillors wanted things for themselves and were not thinking of the big picture.
“I am particularly disappointed with the southern sector councillors for supporting this because they know how tight money is for the aquatic centre,” he said.
“We have been spending more money in the southern sector to bring it up to what we have provided in the north and now they let the chance of nearly $200,000 for the centre go.”
Cr Morland said councillors would not need the allocation so they could spend a thousand dollars here and a thousand dollars there if they got out in their wards and did the hard yards representing their voters.
“We don’t need this type of handout and the council should have been more responsible about how it used this unexpended budget money,” he said.
“The southern councillors have voted to rip this money off their own project. It’s a slush fund to buy votes.”