Ku-ring-gai Council: impregnable

At Ku-ring-gai Council's March 8 meeting, councillors were asked, after almost one year of the Ryan administration, to review their Code of Conduct and determine whether any changes should be made to it.

The section of the Code entitled 'Public Comment' reads like this: "Only the Mayor, the General Manager and the Senior Manager Corporate and  Communications may make media or public comment on behalf of the council."

Such a media policy is not unusual - most metropolitan and suburban councils adhere to similar stipulations.

Ku-ring-gai's neighbouring councils - Ryde, Willoughby and Hornsby - all have very comparable media policies.

However, Ku-ring-gai Council has attracted strident criticism from the media and residents alike, and from people from within council's own ranks, over its relations with several local publications.

According to Peter Gladwell, who was until last month editor of the local news magazine the Sydney Weekly Courier, says he has, during his long career as a journalist, dealt with 18 Sydney councils, and he calls the current Ku-ring-gai administration "definitely one of the worst" when it comes to its dealings with the media.

 "They try very hard to intimidate the media," Gladwell says. "We were routinely subjected to bullying and threats [by people within Council]."

Gladwell says the media has historically had a rocky relationship with Ku-ring-gai Council, but says the Ryan council has made things much worse.

"[The previous] council was certainly not close to the media," he says. "But at least they were civil.

"The [council] always totally overreacts to any negative comments. Every time we wrote something negative or critical about [the Ryan council] they'd be on the phone, slamming me or slamming the journalist who wrote the story."

Karen Halabi, the journalist for the Sydney Weekly Courier who has been covering Ku-ring-gai council for most of the past two years, says she has often been on the receiving end of verbal attacks by councillors and council staff for negative coverage in her magazine.

"I certainly found other councils a lot easier to deal with," she says.

"It's a shame," Gladwell says. "I think they went in with good intentions, but they went into the shoot-the-messenger mentality very early and have not broken out of that. [Now] they just take the view that if they can use enough spin, they can get the media on their side."

Gladwell also says the Ryan council has "really cracked down on the flow of information". He says his publication often faced unnecessary delays and complications when trying to access even the simplest routine information regarding council goings-on.

There was never a shortage however, Gladwell says, of press releases issued by the council attempting to highlight the good work that council performed.

Ku-ring-gai Council's media spokesperson and manager is Eric Aubert. He is a seasoned media relations officer, having worked extensively in both media relations and journalism before joining the Ryan council in May last year.

Aubert firmly denies the council has used intimidatory tactics against members of the local media.

He also says "a quick review of other councils' websites shows we have issued roughly similar numbers of press releases.

"Informing the community of council initiatives and issues is a key part of my role, and I make no apologies for issuing media releases.

"Media outlets can assess whether the releases are newsworthy or 'positive spin', and then decide whether or not to use them."

Aubert says his role is only to "ensure the media has correct information" and says his presence "allows media requests to proceed consistently."

However, Halabi says Aubert's constant presence makes it extremely difficult to talk to anyone else in council.

"With the former council it was much easier to get on to people," she says. "Now everything has to go through [Aubert]. You get told off even trying to talk to anyone else."

Aubert says he does not shield council employees from the media, but insists he should always be the first person contacted in relation to media enquiries so he can assess who within council is best to refer to the media on any given issue. He says he often grants staff approval to speak to the media.

Long-standing Comenarra Ward Councillor Elaine Malicki, who says she maintains a "terrific relationship" with the local press, also levels some criticism at the Ryan council for its dealings with the media.

"I've never seen it this bad," she says. "[In the past we had] a very free and easy system, and it was wonderful because it made it clear to the public that we had nothing to hide."

Moreover, Cr Malicki says that, despite Aubert's often quoted role as 'council spokesperson', "I doubt I'd recognise him if I saw him."

The Sydney Observer also talked to several prominent community leaders in relation to this issue. While a number of them had strong opinions on the topic, most declined to comment openly in order to protect their relationship with council.

The president of one prominent local community group however, who wishes not to be named, says "the [local] media is not providing balance on local issues. There is a definite bias towards mainstream thinking.

"I presume that by controlling public opinion [Ku-ring-gai Council ensures] debate is killed." 

Gladwell says: "[The media] just wants to act as an avenue for the community to express themselves.

"So when [council] criticises the media, they're criticising the community. They might think the media has a vendetta against them, [our] own barrow to push, but we honestly don't. We just want to report what's going on."

Ku-ring-gai Council's Codeof Conduct is currently on exhibition at Council Chambers in Gordon for public comment.