Deputy Mayor Jon Raven said the $200,000 ratepayers will be spending on new council advisors will be worth the investment for Logan City.
Last week MyNewsFeed reached out to Logan City Council to explain how this decision could benefit the community, take the load off of councillors to make their jobs more manageable, and be a good use of hard-earned ratepayer money.
Council declined to comment until this story came out.
Cr Raven has now decided to explain to ratepayers why this will be a good investment of their money.
“Currently Councillors only have support nine days per fortnight and in work hours,” he said.
“Often because of the nature of the job we need extra support outside of work hours.
“The biggest benefit of having specific council advisors will be how flexible their hours are.
“So Councillors will now have better support which means they’ll be more available for their community.”
Cr Raven said the other major draw card will be an extra set of eyes.
“We will be able to get additional experience and expertise that’s independent of Council,” he said.
“They will be able to look over everything. Almost like peer reviewing.
“Current council support staff have a number of limitations and can only help councillors through email requests. But these days requests are also made via social media, over the phone, through text messages, and more.
“The new councillor advisors will be able to help with all of this.”
Cr Raven said he thinks it’s important for ratepayers to understand on average one councillor is representing approximately 28,000 residents in their division.
“That’s a lot of people for just one person,” he said.
“Having someone with the experience and qualifications necessary to assist our councillors in and out of work hours, in the office, and at community events will be invaluable to the Logan City community.”
