In estimates hearings last week, Minister for Local Government Ron Hoenig suggested it was specifically the actions of former mayor Peta Betts which forced him to act.
“I was the one who got a complaint from the local member, and I actually looked at the video of the council meeting and saw the behaviour of the then mayor,” Mr Hoenig said in chambers.
“I mean, I can tell you what had happened was – and this is what I saw personally that caused me to act.
“There was a councillor legitimately raising a variety of concerns … which the mayor and the general manager weren’t all that happy about.
“I’ll just say to you that I saw the conduct.
“I determined that they needed a performance order because I wasn’t going to have the mayor improperly and unlawfully throw councillors out of a meeting.
“That couldn’t continue any longer. It upsets the democratic balance.”
The incident Mr Hoenig refers to stems from a leave of absence request to council by former councillor Pat Fogarty for the March 26 meeting.
It was assumed it would be extended to an extraordinary meeting called at the last minute to immediately precede the original meeting.
But it was not accepted by Ms Betts, which led to a heated exchange between the mayor and Mr Clapham during which Ms Betts was labelled “heartless” and Mr Clapham was asked by the mayor to leave the council chambers.
This was all caught on council livestream, and resulted in some members of the community calling for the mayor to stand down. She refused.
Coupled with reports of “some squabbling” and multiple codes of conduct, also referred to by Mr Hoenig in estimates, the minister eventually slapped a performance order on council in late July.
The timing was controversial, with only a few meetings remaining before the local government elections, at which there was expected to be a change in representation.
It was this timing which led to the matter being discussed in estimates, when Mr Hoenig was questioned by Amanda Cohn if it was “fair” to impose the performance order on a “new group of elected councillors when it relates to a different group of elected people?”.
Her question also covered Central Coast Council, which was also subject to government intervention just before the election.
Only three councillors from the former term stood at the election – Shirlee Burge, Linda Fawns and Shannon Sampson – and all were returned.
While most of the performance order period has been imposed on the new councillors, none have seen it as a negative.
Mayor Ashley Hall and other councillors said the benefits have been numerous, including in terms of professional development for returning and first-time councillors.
By the time the imposed performance order period concluded last month, councillors had been beneficiaries of 100 hours of induction and training with the government appointed adviser.
Cr Hall said the adviser – Mark Ferguson - was also invaluable in the recruitment of Jack Bond as CEO, which he said saved council a significant sum of money.
While the adviser’s appointment did cost council $90,000 – a $60,000 professional fee and an additional $30,000 in associated costs like travel and accommodation – Cr Hall suggested council would have paid much more to have a consultant involved in the recruitment process.
At the February council meeting, the adviser’s last under the order, council approved the third and final report to be sent to the minister.
It was received a few days prior to Mr Hoenig being questioned in estimates.
At the Edward River Council meeting, Mr Ferguson said he had three main aims – to build a strong council through improved meeting procedures, ensure all councillors had a sound understanding of meeting procedures and the codes of conduct, and to ensure there was improved behaviour within Edward River Chambers.
He said he believed all three had been achieved, and that mutual respect would be the key moving forward for council.
“You know, the quality of an organisation is dictated by the quality of the conversations – to have open and honest conversations, but respectful, and be receptive to other people's perspectives and how they deal with things.
“If you were to do that and work as a council, work as a team to make things happen, you can actually get a lot done.
“Initially we had a different set of councillors, but different issues and personal issues that occurred, now we need to just work at continuing the ongoing improvements in terms of communication within the organisation – and that's with staff and councillors, and also councillor and councillors.
“But the department is very keen to ensure that Edward River Council does continue on in that vein.
“I’m sure they (the department) have an expectation that they don't want to see the continuing codes conduct they used to receive, and matters are dealt with (internally).
“Firstly you don't need codes of conduct because you actually deal with each other respectfully, so that is the ultimate goal of council.”
