Rolling out eGovernment

In the Australian State of Queensland, councils are rolling out a new electronic development assessment system, to speed up the application process and reduce costs for councils and industry.  Following successful trials within Redland City Council, Bundaberg will become the second council in the State to bring the Smart eDA system online.  Minister for Infrastructure and Planning, Stirling Hinchliffe, says the initiative has been developed by the State Government, in consultation with the Local Government Association of Queensland, councils and industry stakeholders.

He says the system will significantly speed up the existing development assessment process.  "Paper-based development applications are generally difficult to handle, disperse and monitor and place significant demands on councils in terms of staff and costs,'' he says.  "The electronic system provides Queensland with a more efficient, transparent and consistent development assessment process that will reduce the cost of development.”

According to the Minster, officers from the Department of Infrastructure and Planning delivered training to industry stakeholders in the lead up to the system's release.  "The Smart eDA website provides a single portal for industry and applicants to use across local government jurisdictions. Applicants can prepare and lodge their development applications online and also track their progress," Hinchliffe says. "It transforms the current paper-based Integrated Development Assessment System process into an intuitive and interactive, internet-based process.”.  The new system will also enable the integration of council and State Government systems, while helping to identify any applicable referral agencies.

Who looks after the gamekeepers?

The validity of some of the 2,400 concealed weapons permits issued to Shasta County (California) residents is in question after it was discovered that a Sheriff's Office clerk may have pocketed applicants' fees. As first reported on Redding.com, Shasta County Sheriff Tom Bosenko said Friday that the woman's co-workers uncovered the alleged thefts in early June. The woman, a 17-year veteran clerk with the sheriff's records department, was placed on administrative leave as soon as the allegations could be verified, Bosenko said. At least 100 permit holders, mostly renewals, have been identified so far as possible victims, Bosenko said.

The woman is no longer employed with the Sheriff's Office, and Redding police are investigating the matter for possible criminal charges, Bosenko said. Bosenko declined to name the woman because no charges have been filed and criminal and internal affairs investigations are still under way. He wouldn't say whether the woman was fired or resigned. Bosenko said it's believed that the clerk took concealed weapons applicants' cash and gave them copies of their permits. She then pocketed the money and didn't file the appropriate paperwork with the county or the state Department of Justice, Bosenko said.

Outdated dance permits

The Des Moines parks board wants to throw out an ordinance that requires permits for organized dances and mandates that they end by 2 a.m. The Des Moines Social Club complained about the 67-year-old ordinance. The parks board "can find no public purpose for singling out dancing from other types of gatherings for regulation," a proposed resolution reads. "This ordinance reflects poorly on the city and harms our efforts to project the city as forward-thinking, tolerant and supportive of an attractive cultural environment," it adds.

Parks board member Loyd Ogle, who is also president of the Des Moines Music Coalition, said the ordinance "has a dampening effect ... because people are hesitant." An online petition has gathered 529 signatures from people who organizers say "feel that they have the right to dance all night long if they decide to do so. Dancing is not illegal and, in Des Moines, it is treated as so."

Doubtless the permit billing software has other permit uses.