Councillors clash in “circus”
SOUTH Gippsland Shire Council was thrown into turmoil when long simmering tensions between councillors erupted at last Wednesday’s meeting.
Councillors unleashed attacks on their colleagues, accusing each other of hijacking proceedings, making false claims and disallowing democracy.
They questioned each other’s integrity and character, and mayor Cr Jeanette Harding told several councillors to stop interjecting and sit down.
Councillors Don Hill and Andrew McEwen unsuccessfully tried to outwit the majority council bloc by lodging a flurry of amendments that infuriated other councillors.
The embarrassing scenes before a packed gallery of the public were prompted by councillors Hill and McEwen claiming council was overcharging ratepayers and inventing expenditure to justify a rate rise of 4.9 per cent proposed in the draft budget.
They called for council to slash expenditure and cull management, but other councillors labelled their calls for a rate rise of two per cent as unrealistic and an insult to council’s financial team.
“I would be extremely happy if we did not have a rate rise of 4.9 per cent, but two per cent is not realistic, Cr Hill,” Cr Bob Newton said.
Cr Fawcett said the language in councillors Hill and McEwen’s report, such as council “spending like a drunken sailor”, robbed the community of “security and comfort”.
Cr Mohya Davies said councillors had met for 62 hours to formulate the draft budget during which councillors Hill and McEwen “have taken a lot of time”.
“You are paying for this circus,” she told the gallery.
At one point during the emotional scenes, the mayor said, “To be perfectly honest, the shire has been made a fool of”.
The budget debate consumed about two and a half hours of the council meeting in the Leongatha chambers and prompted jeers from the crowd.
Cr Fawcett led the charge against councillors Hill and McEwen, often alerting the mayor to incorrect meeting procedure in a bid to shut down amendments proposed by the pair.
“This council is in a sustainable, realistic position to be in to meet whatever rate capping will be,” he said, referring to the State Government’s plan to cap council rates from 2016-17.
Cr Hill claimed the draft budget carried a $32 million expenditure blackhole and demanded council cut $18 million for a municipal precinct of new council offices and library, saying ratepayers could not afford it.
He said council officers had adopted nine of the 15 ideas he and Cr McEwen raised. He moved an amendment to the budget that sought to remove $2 million to build a hydrotherapy pool at South Gippsland SPLASH leisure centre in Leongatha and add $200,000 for a modular type of hydrotherapy.
Cr Fawcett, a staunch supporter of SPLASH, said that was a direct negative, not an amendment, and not permissible. Cr Harding, the chair, agreed and disallowed the amendment.
Cr Hill moved the meeting was out of order and moved a motion of dissent in the ruling of the chair. Only Cr McEwen supported him, but that action signalled gloves were off.
Councillors Hill and McEwen raised further amendments that were shut down by their colleagues.
They had also tabled a notice of motion calling for their alternative budget to be considered but it was rejected.
Out there: South Gippsland Shire Council mayor Cr Jeanette Harding and CEO Tim Tamlin with the draft budget in Leongatha, proposing a rate rise of 4.9 per cent.
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Posted by Tayla Kershaw on Mar 31 2015. Filed under Featured, News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry
