SEVERAL Horsham Rural City Council councillors have nominated to cease their allowances during the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown.
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Councillors John Robinson and David Grimble said they have written to council's chief executive Sunil Bhalla to halt monthly remittance for ethical reasons.
"The community is going through a terrible time. It's up to us to set the example," Cr Robinson said.
"None of us are attending the council meetings so I couldn't ethically justify accepting the allowance."
Mayor Mark Radford said the matter was first raised by Cr Les Power at the start of the month.
"We spoke about this issue as a group about a week ago," Cr Radford said.
"Each councillor, and their family, is in a unique financial position and their reliance on the allowance varies.
"In Horsham, some councillors are employed by private business, some are employed by the government and some run their own businesses.
"Currently, as a councillor, there are fewer meetings and engagements to attend, but the ongoing importance to attend the video and teleconference meetings and to do the required reading is on-going.
"Attendance at Council Meetings and Briefing Meetings, in my view, is an important obligation of being a councillor.
"Engagement with the community is also still important, and, where possible this can happen in other than face to face meetings. We all receive telephone calls and emails from ratepayers at different times.
"At the end of the day, if a councillor wants to alter their allowance, they are entitled to do that; however, they need to talk to the chief executive."
The mayor said Councillor Allowances are reported in the publicly available Annual Report.
In the 2018-19 financial year, Cr Radford, the elected Mayor from October 2018, was given an allowance of $51,553.89.
The previous Mayor, Cr Pam Clarke, received an allowance of $38,823.99.
The remaining councillors received $22,664.51.
Cr Clarke said the decision to give back all or a part of the allowance is a personal matter.
"This should only be discussed between the councillor and the CEO," Cr Clarke said. "The allowance does not need to be refused - it can be donated to still have an effect. I do agree that I'm not doing much for council, but I won't go out and declare what I will do with that money."
Cr Grimble said ultimately, it is an individual choice for each councillor.
"I sent a letter to the chief executive asking for my payments to be suspended," Cr Grimble said.
"We need to demonstrate fiscal constraint. There's enough hurt out there that I am compelled not to receive my payment. We're in an unprecedented territory - we can't physically perform the role of councillor.
"However, I am still performing my role from home and fielding more phone calls now that I previously did."
The council cancelled its March 23 meeting to reduce public gatherings and the spread of the coronavirus.
Its next meeting is scheduled for April 27; however, the current Local Government Act requires councillors to be physically present at meetings to participate in council decision-making.
On April 9, the mayor called for the Victorian Government to urgently change the Local Government Act (2020).
In the meantime, the council is also exploring options to live stream online Council Meetings to the public, in place of a public gallery, and ways to enable public questions.
However, Cr Robinson said the innovation could create unintended consequences.
"Virtual meetings are an issue that needs to be resolved by the state government," he said.
"I cannot see that happening this month. We have a strong public turnout for our meetings and a number of them are older people. They will struggle to attend virtual meetings."
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