The proposition seems simple enough.
The NSW Local Government Act provides that if residents decided to opt for a process of direct election for the position of Mayor, the first such election would be held in 2024.
Crs Allen, Bain & Nadin spoke in favour of the proposition, arguing that residents should be afforded the right to decide what process is appropriate, while Cr Bain also reminded her colleagues of their repeated professed commitment to listen to the voice of the community, made during the 2016 Council Election.
The BDN appeared sympathetic to the idea of a direct election, acknowledging its public appeal on the one hand, but cautioning about its cost on the other, but ultimately observing that while residents & ratepayers may not know all of the Councillors, they will usually have a pretty good idea as to who they would most trust to lead the team.
Cr Griff seemed to suggest that the electorate couldn’t be trusted with the responsibility of choosing their Mayor.
Cr Seckold’s contribution to the debate was to claim that the majority of ratepayers are indifferent to local government affairs, while arguing that a smaller group has a genuine interest in how decisions are made & others seek only to denigrate councillors & council staff.
For its part, the association agrees that a majority of ratepayers seem to show little interest in council affairs, while it certainly doesn’t hesitate to criticise the words & actions of councillors, including those of Cr Seckold, as well as council staff, where it believes that such criticism is warranted.
As usual, Cr Dodds tried unsuccessfully to grandstand on the issue, clumsily attempting to discredit the idea of a direct Mayoral election by warning that such a process could produce another popularly elected Mayor like the notorious Salim Mehajer from Auburn City Council, before Cr Fitzpatrick rained on her parade by confirming that Mehajer was in fact the former Deputy Mayor & that he had been elected by his fellow Councillors.
Needless to say, Cr Dodds persisted with her ridiculous & patronising hypothesis, warning that there is a risk that a direct election can be “railroaded” & produce outcomes for the community “which are not so appropriate”.
The association is not sure what Cr Dodds meant by referring to the outcome of a direct election as “not so appropriate” (perhaps she just meant an outcome that she wouldn’t like), but certainly agrees with her suggestion that elections can be “railroaded”, including Mayoral Elections.
While the association has no direct evidence of the claim, it has been widely rumoured that following the last Council Election in 2016 & before the “official” Mayoral Election that took place on September 28th, 2016, a group involving a majority of Councillors, but not all, attended a meeting in Tathra to decide who would get the job as Mayor & Deputy Mayor. Rather curiously, that group was apparently known as “The Tupperware Party”.
While there was nothing illegal about the alleged meeting, it does suggest that there was a distinct lack of confidence on the part of those who allegedly attended that they could be certain of the outcome on the Mayoral Election if they didn’t agree the outcome beforehand.
But back to last week’s council meeting & the current Mayor Cr McBain spoke against the proposal, voicing concern at the potential $20-$30,000 cost of conducting a plebiscite.
While the association is always heartened to hear our elected representatives voicing concern over the need to control & reduce costs, it would have been more impressed if the same concerns were expressed consistently & it can only wonder why Cr McBain has not seen fit to speak out over the recent apparent use by a Councillor of Council’s Code of Conduct process in an alleged attempt to injure other Councillors at a reputed cost of $30,000 to ratepayers or the $5M blowout in the cost to ratepayers of the Merimbula Airport project?
The association has no doubt that the community can recognise real waste when they see it.
Rather than denying the electorate an opportunity to determine for itself the best way to elect our Mayor, why couldn’t Councillors take the opportunity to educate residents on how to make such decisions in order to achieve the best result for the shire?
Instead of framing their suitability in the form of slick slogans that offer little evidence of who they really are & how they might perform, candidates could be encouraged to talk about
• what other leadership roles they have held & what were their major accomplishments?
• how effective or successful were they seen to be in those leadership roles?
• what relevant knowledge, experience & capabilities do they have in local government affairs?
• what evidence can they provide that they have the commitment, passion & capabilities to make hard decisions for the greater good of the community?
Contrary to the suggestion posed by the BDN’s headline & the attitude evident on the part of some Councillors, the election of a Mayor, Deputy Mayor or even Councillors does not have to be a popularity contest, but rather the democratic expression of the right to choose.
The association believes that the quality of election outcomes will always be a function of the quality of candidates who put themselves forward, but more importantly, it will be a direct reflection of how interested & how seriously the electorate treats the process.
And finally, the association believes that residents are entitled to wonder how much they can genuinely trust their elected representatives when many of those representatives seem unable & unwilling to trust them.
John Richardson
Secretary/Treasurer
Bega Valley Shire Residents & Ratepayers Association
Tel: 0264945669
Email: secretary@begavalleyshireratepayers.asn.au
Website: http://www.begavalleyshireratepayers.asn.au
