All council articles
Council flags big job cuts
Friday, 10th May, 2013
By Erica Visser
City Council jobs will be on the chopping block following a major review of services, interim gen- eral manager Greg Wright says.
Mr Wright said that it was a reality that Council staff had to be cut back considerably, however he said it was too early to say which departments would be reduced in size.
During a discussion on the newly-adopted draft budget, Mr Wright told the BDT that Council needed to either increase revenue or make cuts where possible in order to survive.
“It’s a bit like having a champagne taste on a beer budget,” he said.
Mr Wright said that cost- saving methods may be, for example, mowing the lawn at Sturt park “eight times instead of 12 each year”.
He said that another reason for the service review was to get rid of ineff iciencies that were costing Council.
“I think in any large organisation with nearly 300 people, my view is that there are some ineff iciencies there,” Mr Wright said.
“Broken Hill needs to be relatively self-contained. A lot of it is built-in ineff iciencies but if things couldn’t be improved I’d be surprised.”
Council’s Chief Financial Officer, Tim Drew, said that the review had been needed for a long time and was not just sparked by the recent $7 million Perilya rates case.
Left in the lurch
Tuesday, 12th February, 2013
St Patrick’s Race Club President Margaret Corradini is disappointed the event will not receive funding this year
By Erica Visser
St Patrick's Race Club has lashed out at City Council for allegedly retracting a $10,000 funding promise which has left it owing money and cutting local jobs and advertising.
The club's President, Margaret Corradini, said that she was left "devastated" after council informed her that it would not be supporting the event less than two months after she had been given the green light by a senior manager.
The club suffered financially after a race day washout in 2011 and relies heavily on volunteers.
Zaknich resigns, Council to seek new GM
Friday, 1st February, 2013
Outgoing City Council general manager Frank Zaknich says he’s moving on to further his career.
By Kurtis J Eichler
City Council's departing general manager, Frank Zaknich, says he's not trying to escape the organisation's future problems by resigning.
Mr Zaknich yesterday handed in his written resignation to Mayor Wincen Cuy after accepting the position of general manager at the much larger Albury City Council.
Experience counts
Friday, 25th January, 2013
By Erica Visser
City Council will pay $78,000 more for audit services during the next six years but Acting General Manager, Kate O'Neill, insists it's value for money.
Council appointed a new, more expensive auditor at its meeting on Wednesday night after the six-year contract with its last external auditor, Dean Newbery and Partners, expired.
Push for plan to arrest crime rate
Wednesday, 23rd January, 2013
Labor councillors Branko Licul and Marion Browne want to see a crime prevention plan developed within the coming months.
By Erica Visser
Labor councillors are pushing for City Council to develop a crime prevention plan by the end of June.
The establishment of such a plan was an election promise made by the Labor team, four of whom were elected to Council. Recent figures showed that crime levels in the city have remained static over the past two years, although some offences are well above the State average.
