Mayor makes a show at today's Council meeting

The Mayor of Eurobodalla, Liz Innes, graced the Ordinary Meeting of Council with her presence today to deliver a Mayoral Report that recommended the extension of employment for the General Manager, Dr Catherine Dale, for a further three months beyond her contract that ends on July 30th 2022. While it was challenged by the public that the debate and discussion around the extension was held behind closed doors in Confidential the Council heard two speakers against the move and voted to go into Confidential for their discussions and determination. Returning to the screen (as it was all Zoomed) the Mayor announced that the councillors had voted 7 against 2 to extend the General Manager's term. Earlier on the Councillors (minus the Mayor) attended a Public Forum session chaired by Deputy Mayor Rob Pollock. It is clear that the councillors are becoming peeved of the non-attendance of the Mayor to these Public sessions to listen to the community. Today Chair Pollock made that clear when he put forward the apology of Councillor Lindsay Brown who was unable to attend and had respectfully advised he would be absent. No apology was offered for the Mayor which indicates that she had not put in an apology. It is understood that even the staff are unable to predict if the Mayor will attend these sessions right up to the last minute where she does a no-show with a very senior executive member commenting "Your guess is as good as mine". Had the Mayor attended the Public Forum session she would have heard Mr Jim Bright present, offering an alternate to the Mayor's recommendation of voting on the GM's extension, suggesting instead that the next Council make the decision by way of a temporary appointment. With only two remaining Council meetings it will be interesting to see if the Mayor bothers to show up. Ahead are two Public Forums and a Public Access session that will no doubt see Deputy Mayor Pollock chair. The Innes mayoral era, ending in such a disrespectful and disengaging way, will be long remembered as one of the lowest points in Eurobodalla Council history, second only to the Great Dismissal of 1982.

Above: By a vote of 7 to 2, (McGinlay and Mayne dissenting), the motion, as put by the Mayoral minute, was carried.