From Hilltops Council – Tony Flanery

At the March Council meeting, Councillor Stadtmiller was ejected from the meeting - before the meeting even began for the third consecutive time.

His crime was not apologising for his constant interjections and poor behaviour at the February meeting. The behaviour was totally unacceptable and fails the basic principles by which all meetings should be held and respect for the chair that is required.

I didn’t vote to support the Mayor in having Councillor Stadtmiller thrown out of the meeting as one of the key business items on the agenda was the length of the GM’s contract renewal and I believe that it is important that all Councillors are present.

It is the only staff position that Councillors determine. All other staff appointments are made by the GM. Importantly there are other avenues available to the Mayor to discipline Councillors when all else fails.

Due to Councillor Stadtmiller’s forced absence, a decision on the GM’s contract length was held over to a later meeting.

The Mayor promptly called a vote to have Stadtmiller removed again (due to his continued refusal to apologise) which was upheld. The GM’s contract was subsequently put to the vote and resulted in a tied decision of 5-5 given the absence of Stadtmiller. The Mayor then used her casting vote to determine the outcome. The same process occurred at the March Council meeting.

I believe the Mayor and her supporters have acted in the most undemocratic manner, depriving an elected Councillor and the people that Councillor represents the opportunity to have a say in Council business including the length of the GM’s contract.

The actions are akin to those of the State Government in throwing out the former councils, forcibly amalgamating them and then appointing administrators to determine the affairs of ratepayers.

Tony Flanery

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• Local Council