Eurobodalla councillors yesterday marked their final ordinary meeting chaired by Deputy Rob Pollock in the absence of the Mayor.
The day started early for the councillors with an 8am briefing by staff followed by thirteen presenters to the Public Forum session.
With the Mayor absent without apology at the Briefings and the Public Forum Session, and given her recent history of being a no show to listen to the community present on their issues and concerns it came as no surprise to see the "Elephant in the Room" finally addressed when Deputy Mayor Pollock appeared on Zoom for the final ordinary meeting.
Rob Pollock said "We have apologies from the Mayor.... at this stage.. can somebody move that way please. Thomson and Tait moved that the apology be accepted however when it came to the vote Councillor Pat McGinlay said "No, it is not unanimous. I think it has become a pattern of behaviour and the understanding of the circumstances, I'm just not automatically, any more, accepting apologies".
When it came to the vote both Councillor McGinlay and Councillor Mayne voted against accepting the apology. Oddly the General Manager then piped up saying "Councillor Mayne may not have heard that the Mayor is unwell".
The fact is that none of the councillors had knowledge of the Mayor and that there was such a "pattern of behaviour" of no-show by the Mayor that even the Deputy Mayor often didn't know to the last minute if he was chairing meetings and forums.
The final ordinary meeting was conducted on Zoom due to the fact that all the councillors could not attend the Council chamber because one, or two were not suitably vaccinated. Only the weekend before once of the councillors was barred from entering a club due to their vaccination status.
The elected councillors have one more official task – considering audited financial statements at an extraordinary meeting on Tuesday 9 November.
Council moves into caretaker mode on Friday 5 November, where no major decisions can be made that could limit the actions of the incoming council.
As this will be a "rubber stamp" occasion and an Extraordinary meeting it will be of little surprise if we see Deputy Pollock also chair what will be the final meeting of the Liz Innes Era as she has stated she will not be standing for council elections and will be focussing on representing the Liberal Party in the contest for the Seat of Bega should Andrew Constance actually resign and should she be approved by the pre-selection panel.
The NSW local government elections will be held Saturday 4 December 2021.
For more info on the election, including voting locations and registered candidates, visit the NSW Electoral Commission website www.elections.nsw.gov.au
