Melville Council Meeting Attendance Sparks Debate on Community Engagement
Attending council meetings appears to be low on the agenda for residents of the City of Melville, prompting questions about whether this reflects satisfaction or apathy within the community. Council meetings traditionally attract few people beyond dedicated "council watchers" and press members eager to conclude their duties. While hot topic issues can occasionally draw crowds, local government proceedings generally do not rank high on the must-see list for most individuals.
Annual Electors' Meeting Highlights Low Turnout
This trend was evident at the city's annual general meeting of electors held on February 2, which saw approximately 30 residents in attendance, alongside 20 city staff and elected members. The low numbers prompted Bull Creek resident Gavin Waugh to question whether the council was satisfied with its efforts to encourage public participation. He asked, "With 113,000 residents in the district and so few people here at the electors' meeting, is council happy with the amount of engagement between the local government and the community for getting people to meetings like this?"
Council Response and Resident Concerns
In response, Mayor Katy Mair suggested that residents might be content with the city's operations, stating, "Certainly when I talk to them and I think our surveys show that there's quite a level of happiness with the way we're running the city, so there wouldn't be a strong reason for them to attend a meeting perhaps." She added, "I don't know. I can't read their minds. If you have a special formula that you can give us to communicate with our residents, apart from speaking to everyone individually, we would really appreciate hearing from you."
However, not all residents share this perspective. Applecross resident Karen Horn raised concerns about accessibility, noting that the switch from Zoom to YouTube for meeting broadcasts prevented online viewers from voting. She explained, "This switch is not friendly to people with small children, the elderly, anyone who's homebound or those who are away. Additionally, none of the electors have been able to access the motions with notice in the agenda in advance, preventing them from doing any advanced research to guide their voting decisions."
Technical Upgrades and Online Engagement
Addressing these issues, City director legal, governance and risk Mustafa Yildiz informed a February 10 agenda briefing that staff are exploring upgrades to audiovisual equipment to enable online voting to be recorded. Meanwhile, the livestream of the electors' meeting garnered about 62 views, with most viewers tuning in for approximately 28 minutes of the hour and 45-minute session. This data highlights a potential gap in sustained online engagement, further complicating the assessment of community interest.
The ongoing debate underscores broader challenges in local government communication and participation. As Melville continues to navigate these issues, the balance between resident satisfaction and proactive engagement remains a key topic for discussion among officials and the community alike.
