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We can hold our Councillor accountable

Once a Councillor is elected there is no formal platform or mechanism for communities in the wards to hold them accountable for poor performance. We need to invite new ways to do this and community agreements to enforce them.

Ward Agreement

As soon as we elect a resident to be Ward Councillor and our new Ward Committee we must ensure that we come together in an assembly to deliberate on a Ward Agreement. Our Councillor is not accountable to a political party – he or she is only accountable to residents in the ward so we need an agreement which will make it clear what our shared values are, what work we expect our Councillor to do, how we expect our Councillor to communicate, how we will participate in decisions and how our Councillor will report back and be accountable to the communities in the Ward.

State of the Ward Address

Once a year the President is required to give a state of the nation address or SONA in which he or she outlines the achievements of the government and presents a political programme for the year ahead. What happens in our ward is just as important and we should give it the same attention but we can do it a bit different – let’s work collaboratively on a state of the ward address or SOWA

Instead of the SOWA being attended by politicians, dignitaries and celebrities lets make sure that it is open to everyone living in the ward. Let’s listen to a summary of the everything that has been achieved together with our elected Councillor both in the ward and in Council on behalf of the ward. Instead of listening to the Councillor make promises for the year ahead, let’s work collaboratively on a programme of action, review our structures and reaffirm our ways of working and our ward agreement with the Councillor.

Ward Mandates

At regular assemblies held in the ward, our Councillor should present any by-laws or policies that Council is planning to adopt, any maintenance, initiatives or projects that the administration is planning, and any issues that will be debated. He or she should listen to what the needs are in the Ward and after deliberation seek a formal mandate from the Ward on the positions they will take and the votes they will make in the administration, committees and Council meetings.

These ward mandates should be seen as binding and we should hear back from our Councillor regularly on how they have tried to implement ward mandates. Being accountable means that they explain what they have done, what could be achieved and what could not be achieved with reasons both in Ward Assemblies and in any newsletter, online participatory platforms or social media posts so that everyone is informed.

Recalling a Councillor

If we feel that our Councillor is not honouring the Ward Agreement or being accountable to the Ward then we must have the right to choose a different Councillor.

If the Councillor was elected as part of a ward platform that registered as a party, then the platform has the right to recall the Councillor and should have a fair mechanism in place that has been developed.

If the ward platform was formed to elect a Councillor as an independent then the criteria and mechanism must be clearly articulated in the Ward Agreement.

Either way, when a Ward Councillor no longer has the confidence of the Ward and is recalled or resigns this would trigger a by-election in which political parties could contest.

There will always be people who are unhappy with the performance of a Councillor in the ward – it is hard to please everyone. There will always be political parties and formations who wish to secure power for themselves and their agenda. So we cannot be naive in putting forward a mechanism to recall a Councillor – but it is a necessary mechanism to ensure ultimate authority lies with residents and accountability can be enforced through local democracy. The mechanism should therefore be available but should not be able to be so easily triggered otherwise a duly elected Councillor will spend most of their term defending themselves against motions to recall them.

Choosing a Ward Councillor

We all know people in our wards who are natural leaders and are already doing the work to bring people together, solve problems and transform our community often with little resources except for hard work and creativity. They may be a well-loved nurse or teacher who knows almost every child and their parents.

They may be a dedicated social worker, imam or pastor who people turn to when times get tough. Or they may be the community activists who can be relied on to take action. They are the ones calling meetings, cooking food, and fundraising for good causes. We deserve Councillors who have spent their time building the community, who can speak from the heart and act with experience.

And yet, when it comes to governing our community the very people who have the most experience are not on the ballot. We are forced to choose the least worst person for the job amongst the candidates that parties have selected, or vote for a political party despite the poor character of the person they have selected.

When Political Parties Decide

We’ve come to accept that it is political parties that get to decide who should be on the ballot rather than us. Candidates are chosen behind closed doors without any consultation with the people who live in the ward. The first you hear is often you see their face on a poster or when you see their name on the ballot.

They pick people with limited experience

You would not trust a doctor without experience to do brain surgery on your family, so why do we trust Councillors without experience working in the community to govern us? We need Councillors who have done the time bringing people together, building relationships and organisations, listening and communicating. This doesn’t have to be someone older – so many young people have the passion and ideas we are yearning for. We deserve nothing less.

They don’t share our values

How do you know what values your Councillor has? What is their work ethic like? Are they grounded in community organising? Do they believe in justice and equality and are they willing to fight for it? We think that everybody who belongs to a political party shares the same values because that is what is written in their materials – but that is simply not true. Political parties attract many different people and many of them are simply in it for what can be gained personally. We need to know our Councillors share our values and the best way is to check their track record.

The criteria is all wrong

If you had to pick the things you expect from a good Councillor what would be at the top of the list? How many of these qualities does your current Councillor have? No wonder – when it comes to choosing Councillors, political parties are less concerned with what the community needs and more concerned with what they need. Career politicians who are chosen again and again despite their performance because they have standing in the party; newcomers are parachuted in because they know the right people, and politicians are rewarded for being loyal to a particular faction and its leaders.

They put the party first

How many Councillors win elections by telling people what they will do for the community if their party wins the election rather than what they will do with the community. But political party manifestos are not written in the community – they are written at party HQ somewhere far away. Councillors often see themselves as representatives of the party in the community rather than the representative of the community. So when it comes to decisions they are more accountable to the people in their party who put or kept them in power rather than the community.

They are socialised as politians

So they approach community problems as politicians first rather than community organisers. They make promises they can’t keep because they are not invested in the issue. They jump onto activities and take the credit. They look to be seen and heard rather than to listen and encourage. They come up with the answers for everything rather than the questions.

We can decided who should be on the ballot

Democracy does not mean rule by political parties – its means rule by the people. Political parties are a habit we need to shake off if we want to change where power lies. That starts with deciding in the community who should represent us on the ballot.

Anybody who lives in the community should have the opportunity to nominate anyone who inspires us, shares our values, and has community organising experience to be the Councillor. This could be a neighbour, a community leader or a fellow worker.

If all of these candidates stood independently in the same ward, they could divide people on who to vote for. This division might result in a political party candidate winning the election. Instead we need a way to choose a single candidate to stand for Ward Councillor through a local democratic process.

We can choose who the best candidate is by organising our own open caucus or primary election in the ward for Councillor who can sit as an independent on the ballot.

> See Toolkit: Organising an open caucus or primary eleciton

Justice Democrats – Nominations for Progressive Democrat candidates

In the USA, the Justice Democrats are trying to get more progressive leaning ordinary people from poor and working class communities elected into safe seats that the Democratic Party has historically won in the US House of Representatives. They call for nominations and select and train potential candidates the skills and tactics they will need to win in primary elections without taking money from large corporations. The Justice Democrats specifically call for nomination of candidates that have a common set of values and do not take money from large corporations. They look for bold leaders, grassroots campaigners, and movement builders.

In the US general election in November 2018, a number of young progressive identified by Justice Democrats were elected to the House of Representatives, including 29-year-old Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez who had been working as a waitress and bartender in New York and who became the youngest woman to serve in the United States Congress.

Delegating Power Down

It is not enough to elect better representatives to Council. While they may demonstrate values we admire, they will inevitably be ineffective at changing what happens in the community unless we shift where power lies.

Right now, Council elects an executive Mayor who delegates the responsibility for all big decisions and policies to a small number of powerful politicians on the Mayoral Committee and executive level officials in the administration. This is a problem.

Firstly because it demonstrates a culture of top-down decision making with limited or no input from the people who are governed apart from limited opportunities where the public can comment. As so few people can rarely comprehend the experience of so many citizens it inevitably leads to a disconnect between what those in power wish to pursue and what people actually need.

Secondly, the actual decision makers often meet behind closed doors and are obscure and hard to pin down. Indeed even the Mayor and MayCo struggle to influence the vast bureaucracy.

Thirdly, the system provides avenues for those with money, power and connections to influence the decision makers to make govern in their interests instead of in the interest of the majority. This is especially chronic when they are donors to political parties – requests can be hard to decline.

The Council should delegate decision making powers to the appropriate level of council for the decision. These should always be informed by public deliberation, consensus decisions, or voting where necessary.

For example, long-term policy direction, litigation and statutory decisions could be decided by the Mayor and Mayoral Committee. Citywide policy and sectoral issues such as transport or water should be decided by committees. Regional decisions, such as the use of state land or the allocation of safety equipment should be decided by Sub Councils. Local decisions, such as the management of parks or the placement of speed bumps should be decided by Councilors together with the ward committee.

The administration should be responsible for providing competent and expert advice; the co-ordination and implementation of decisions that are taken at all levels; tendering and performance tracking; and the daily administration of services. Social auditing and oversight is the work of community and councillors.

Deeper use of State resources – Recoleta, Santiago, Chile

In Chile, cities are divided into small highly-unequal municipalities, with some having as few as 1000 residents and others as many as 800,000 residents. The municipality of Recoleta is one of thirty-seven that make up Greater Santiago, and has traditionally been largely informal, working-class, and multicultural. In 2012, Recoleta elected Communist Daniel Jadue as Mayor on a campaign to respond to the needs of the citizens. Jadue has pioneered a number of initiatives, including an Open Schools programme that kept schools open from 4pm to 10pm and over the weekend as a space for young people to escape crime, alcohol, and drug abuse by participating in age-appropriate after-school activities. The whole community suddenly had access to the fields, gyms, and classrooms for all sorts of projects.

Normal block what happens?

Demonstrating accountability

We should deliberate and decide what positions to take on important issues together with the Councillor who represents us in community assemblies open. These community decisions should be seen as binding mandates guiding the actions of our Councillor, the public positions they take, and what they vote for in Council.

We should hear back from our Councillor regularly how they have tried to implement community mandates. Being accountable means that they explain what they have done, what could be achieved and what could not be achieved with reasons.

We should decide

One of the most important political rights in a democracy is the right to vote in free and fair elections to ensure that there is rule by the people. But electing a Councillor to represent the community is only the first part.

Our democracy would be very shallow if it begins and ends there. Too often an elected Councillor makes decisions on behalf of the community according to what their party caucus decides. We need to ensure that our Councillors represent the decisions that the community makes.

Right now, we are left almost entirely out of decision making. Any democratic engagement is limited to participation in ad hoc workshops and meetings, invitations to public information sessions every now and then and a few opportunities to object or comment in writing. None of this is taken seriously or has much of an impact.

These engagements are not seen as a fundamental part of our democracy – they are outsourced to the administration and the Councillor has a small role to play, if at all. You may meet with a Councillor if there is a crisis to resolve; or invite the Councillor to be present at a community meeting, but there are no regular meetings scheduled between communities and councillors to make meaningful decisions that count.

We need councillors who are willing to attend assemblies and take mandates on all important decisions that are made. A mandate is permission to make a decision in the way that the Community feels is right. In this way, the power lies with the community and the Councillor is a delegate chosen to implement it on behalf of the community.