City of Greater Geraldton to decide on cutting councillors next month as part of local government overhaul

The City of Greater Geraldton is set to decide on reducing its number of councillors next month as part of the State Government’s recently announced reforms to local government. Under the reforms, councils will also be told to abolish their ward systems and be made to allow ratepayers to directly elect their mayor, rather than delegating the decision to councillors. The City previously reduced the number of councillors from 14 to 12 and abolished the ward system in 2019, while the mayor is already popularly elected. Local Government Minister John Carey has written to City CEO Ross McKim advising of the reforms and encouraging the council to immediately begin preparations to fully enact the changes in time for the 2025 elections. “The Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries has completed an initial review, and identified that your local government may need to reduce the number of council members under the proposed reforms,” the letter states. The minister has provided two options to implement the changes, with council set to decide on a “voluntary pathway” or a “reform election pathway”. Under option one, the council will have until October 28 to advise DLGSC of its intention to undertake a voluntary process and provide Mr Carey with a transition plan. If the City cannot — or will not — voluntarily agree on such a plan they will be forced to “spill” their entire council ahead of the October 2023 local government election, at which point all of the required changes would be enacted in one hit under option two. The reforms will be enabled through a combination of regulatory and legislative changes, with amendments to the existing Local Government Act to be introduced to Parliament next year.