AS disappointing as it may be, municipal monitor Peter Stephenson’s report shows Minister for Local Government Melissa Horne has made the right call to suspend our elected Strathbogie Shire councillors for the remaining 11 months of their term.

It may be a hard pill to swallow, but it is a far cry from the five-year period of administration that followed the collapse of Moira Shire Council – a period that would have been devastating had it been ordained for Strathbogie Shire Council.

The decision ended a tumultuous period that saw the appointment of two municipal monitors, the resignations of four councillors, the stepping down of a councillor-elect and in more recent weeks, the refusal of two councillors to allow a new mayor to be elected.

It will not be too long before the community is asked to elect another group of councillors; our attention now turns to how to avoid seeing history repeat itself.

It is clear from two monitor reports that this term of council suffered from having an inexperienced group of councillors; even former mayor Laura Binks and former councillor Reg Dickinson (who disagreed on plenty) have spoken about the group facing a steep learning curve.

With the exception of Chris Raeburn, none of the initial group of elected councillors had any past experience as councillors, board members or company directors.

While such experience is not a prerequisite, candidates with a strong willingness to grasp the role of a councillor as defined in the Local Government Act is fundamental.

Some in the community have applauded progressive decisions made by council, while many remain vexed by the council’s decision in May to withdraw their support from Australia Day celebrations on January 26, as well as council’s decision last year to declare a climate emergency.

Many want to see council’s focus return to “the basics” – roads, rates and rubbish – while many have also applauded council’s forays into other areas such as supporting public art, which saw the installation of Euroa’s giant magpie in Seven Creeks Park.

Just as the community holds different views on where council’s priorities should lie, it is likely councillors with differing views to each other will be elected again.

This is why another important quality for candidates will be an ability to build relationships and work together with fellow councillors, even when their views are opposed.

An effective council needs to work together, and the monitor’s report, as well as the circus-like events in the two weeks leading up to the suspension last month, showed this group of councillors did not have or lost that ability.

The monitor’s report has delivered a good measure of clarity after ratepayers were left in the dark for too long regarding the specific nature of the council’s problems.

While not every question has been answered, the damning report includes a healthy number of examples of the council’s governance failures, as well as a strong discussion of issues including councillors failing to understand their roles, focusing too much on their own wards instead of the whole municipality, and failing to put the first monitor’s 10-point plan into action.

The report, published online, is well worth reading.

The minister has done her part; next year, it will be up to community members to put their hands up again, and for ratepayers to consider who can best achieve a functional council providing strong local governance.