Inner West Council first online meeting.

So, Inner West Council met online for an Extraordinary Council meeting last night.

There was only one item on the Agenda a Mayoral Minute but we did debate that and there was some consultation before hand. The final version was not available until after 6pm.

The Mayoral Minute included pushing back the 14 April Ordinary Council Meeting to 21 April (to allow staff to provide reports).

As per the special covid-19 regulations, the meeting was live streamed but no opportunity for the public to address the council - though this would be quite possible, for pre-registered speakers and the public can still email councillors.

There was only one item on the Agenda - a Mayoral Minute.

Last night, the Inner West Council met online for the first time for an extraordinary council meeting, after the March 24 meeting was cancelled by the CEO and Mayor due to their concerns about the COVID-19 Crisis.

Agenda

The final version was provided very late to councillors and published on the business papers website (https://innerwest.infocouncil.biz/) - though it still showed the meeting at Ashfield:

7 Apr 2020 6.30PM

Extraordinary Council Ashfield Service Centre, 260 Liverpool Road, Ashfield

Agenda HTML

Agenda PDF (1.5MB)

The Council Website (https://www.innerwest.nsw.gov.au/about/the-council/council-meetings/current-council-meetings) showed:

***Based on Health advice from the State Government, Council meetings will be held remotely and livestreamed on Council's website until further notice. The livestream for the Extraordinary Council meeting to be held on Tuesday 7 April 2020 will be available by 6.25pm on the day of the meeting.**

Extraordinary Council	Tuesday, 7 April 2020	Remote Meeting -livestreamed on Council's website
Ordinary Council	Tuesday, 14 April 2020	Remote Meeting -livestreamed on Council's website
Ordinary Council	Tuesday, 28 April 2020	Remote Meeting -livestreamed on Council's website
Ordinary Council	Tuesday, 12 May 2020	Remote Meeting -livestreamed on Council's website

All Councillors were present and debated the Mayoral Minute, with some amendments incorporated.

Webcast

The meeting was live streamed and can be viewed on Youtube

Included in the Mayoral Minute was the postponement of the 14 April ordinary council meeting to the 21 April 2020.

I gave special mention to the continuing work of the Bower and Reverse Garbage and that they should not be overlooked in the support for not for profit organisations supporting our community. Reverse Garbage is making kits to  make masks for our health workers.

I also gave special mention to Boomalli Aboriginal Artist Co-operative and Johnston Street Jazz who have moved online.

I also raised the idea of a grant  to https://www.planningalerts.org.au/

There are issues still to be resolved - public addressing the council and considering confidential items, but this was a very good start.

Stay Tuned: https://www.innerwest.nsw.gov.au/about/the-council/council-meetings/current-council-meetings