WCC responses to first batch of credit card questions in full

These are the W’bool City Council responses to my first batch of questions about the use of a corporate credit card by one of its senior managers. That story is here.

Is the WCC aware of the use of a corporate credit card for such expenditure and is this type of expenditure the norm for all WCC managers who use corporate credit cards?

No.

How is this spending justified to ratepayers?

Each authorized holder of a corporate credit card will perform different roles requiring different stakeholders, different working hours and locations, and therefore different costs of doing business.   Some roles may require extensive engagement with business and industry, volunteers, residents, regional engagement and statewide engagement, other roles may not. The use of credit cards as a payment mechanism can be of considerable benefit to the Council, ratepayers and the various individuals and organisations that supply goods and services. The benefits are in the form of efficient procurement and reduced administration costs.

Does Mr McMahon’s manager, Director City Growth Andrew Paton, sign off on Mr McMahon’s monthly credit card expenditure? If Mr Paton does not give this approval, who does?

The line manager of the authorised holder of the corporate credit card provides approval.

Several transactions have been deleted from the statements released because they were deemed irrelevant, ie. they were repaid. Who has repaid these funds and for what reason? How much has been repaid since Mr McMahon received a corporate credit card?

A Corporate Credit Card Policy* exists to ensure relevant internal controls are in place. These apply to all authorised credit card holders.

Does Mr McMahon still have access to a corporate credit card? 

Yes.

* I asked for a copy of this credit card policy and the council’s travel policy. Neither are available to the public.



We don’t want ‘sexy’, we just want sensible spending

Carol Altmann – The Terrier

Isn’t it fascinating how most of the W’bool City councillors take zero responsibility for whacking us with more rates, as if it all just happened around them?

Like a dog that destroys the couch, the councillors are anguished and tormented once the damage has been done, but did nothing to stop the damage in the first place.

Instead – they plead – the problems that have led to us paying 4.5% more in rates for the next two years were “inherited”.

They also plead that WCC is “special” compared to every other council in Victoria because, after all, 77 of the 79 councils will keep their rates capped.

Hold on.

What we have “inherited” is more than 10 years of most councillors being too weak to ask probing questions of former CEO Bruce Anson and his senior staff.

 

Not only did these councillors avoid any probing questions (and here Crs Neoh and Gaston, I am looking at you), they kept ticking off on Mr Anson’s annual performance reviews and pay-rises because he and his team were apparently doing such a terrific job.

We paid Mr Anson and his senior staff handsomely because they were in charge of the ship: the captain and his crew.

And we elected our councillors in the belief that they would raise their binoculars, keep an eye on the ship and steer it well away from the rocks.

We didn’t ask to be “sexy” or “special”: we just wanted the council to do its job.

In this, we are like residents of every other city and town across Victoria.

But here we are, on the rocks, for the next two years at least, and the couch is wrecked, yet our councillors are still expecting a pat on the head.

Not this time.

Good on the ratepayers for biting back. We need Warrnambool to be guided by watchdogs, not lapdogs.