Unforeseen drama already has Shoalhaven's newly elected councillors on their toes just a week into the term. Behind the scenes, councillors and staff are asking, when does influence become interference?
by Cat Holloway /
In summary:
- The shock early resignation of Ward 3 Shoalhaven Independents Group (SIG) candidate Mitchell Pakes reignited the smouldering political ambitions of jilted Liberal, Paul Ell who wants Shoalhaven Council to pay for a by-election.
- Two opposing figures wait in the wings to replace Pakes, with Denise Kemp of Facebook's persuasive and divisive "shoalhaven city council residents complaints" page tipped to beat multi-awarded environmentalist and youth campaigner, Takesa Frank, in a countback.
- Assistant Deputy Mayor, Matthew Norris, called for Councillors to have "thick skin and a strong moral compass" to resist "backseat driving from Council's gallery" after he revealed feeling threatened by Berry Forum Secretary, Stuart Coughlan, over a planning motion vote.
- Investigation continues into whether a councillor provided the phone number of Indigenous leader, Ashleigh McGuire, to Sealark Managing Director, Matt Philpott, after the developer pressured McGuire to change her deputation.
- In Council's first meeting, some SIG Councillors voted outside the expectations of their dominant party line to halt two motions from Mayor Patricia White; to allow "zombie" developments and to open Council meetings with prayer.
- The Mayor's motion to reinstate the original 45-degree rule on tree removal was successful, as was Deputy Mayor Peter Wilkins' motion to revert to holding Shoalhaven's Australia Day Awards ceremony on January 26.
As Mayor Patricia White opens her office weekly to lobbyists, strategic moves from outside chambers have raised eyebrows and questions over the public right to express opinion versus councillors getting coached from the sidelines.
Text messaging makes it easy, if not ethical, for councillors to take advice during meetings from mentors watching the live stream or party colleagues in chambers.
Likewise, the published email address and phone numbers for every councillor encourages community members to articulate their point of view in the hope of persuading councillors to vote according to the wishes of their community.
But is such instruction a distraction and when does influence become interference?
Assistant Deputy Mayor Matthew Norris said it was "completely out of line" that some people thought councillors could be manipulated so easily.
"This is why we need councillors with some thick skin and a strong set of morals to not fold to this back-seat driving from the gallery," Clr. Norris said.
Norris also revealed that a year ago he received a text message from the Berry Forum Secretary, Stuart Coughlan, just minutes before the start of a council meeting in which a motion on planning inclusions was up for discussion.
Coughlan's text read:
"A very large number of Berry residents will base their votes at the council elections next year on how their Ward 1 councillors vote on the NoM tonight. It's a simple equation."
Clr. Norris did not reply because, he said, "it was not worthy of a response."
"But that message felt very threatening to me. It sort of said, your job's on the line, you vote this way or you don't get elected,
"From a secretary of a Community Consultative Body of Council, that's not on."
Coughlan wholeheartedly endorsed SIG during the recent election campaign by circulating, from his personal address but to some Berry Forum members, an alarmist email warning that Shoalhaven Council would likely enter administration if Patricia White was not elected Mayor.
Coughlan said he was among a group of "independent financial professionals" that took it upon themsleves to review and interpret Shoalhaven Council accounts.
Clr. Norris took issue recently with councillors trying to manoeuvre a community representative before she gave a deputation that supported conservation zoning for forested land in Callala.
Indigenous leader, Ashleigh McGuire, complained to Council at the end of her deputation that someone had provided her contact details to Matt Philpott, the managing director of property development company, Sealark.
She said Philpott called her before the meeting to suggest she change her position in exchange for help with her political career. McGuire was disturbed by the uninvited approach and did not accept any offer.
Clr. Norris is also concerned that local social media platforms are abused by both local politicians and the voting public to spread misinformation.
"I have never seen anything quite like the mobilising behind Facebook pages like the Shoalhaven residents complaints page," Norris said.
"I'm aware of lots of community members that were blocked the moment they disagreed with that page's narrative,
"While I understand that people want to voice their concerns, a Facebook group is not the right place to lodge genuine complaints.
"It is essential residents use formal channels like email or phone to ensure their concerns are directed to the appropriate people and are properly addressed."
The Facebook complaints page Norris referenced is administered by number four Ward 3 candidate, Denise Kemp, who looks likely to take Mitchell Pakes' seat on Council after he resigned last week before even taking the oath of office.
The public announcement of Pakes resignation was made the day after Council's first meeting during which councillors voted unanimously for countback to fill what is termed a "casual vacancy “.
Pakes did not attend the councillors' swearing-in ceremony days earlier, and it was rumoured widely that he would not serve due to ill health.
But lawyer and former councillor, Paul Ell, didn’t agree with the process.
Ell wrote to Shoalhaven Council CEO, Robyn Stevens, and on Facebook to question the legitimacy of the council vote and rally support for his proposal that Shoalhaven should instead hold a by-election in which Liberal candidates, such as Ell himself, could run.
The cost of a by-election would be at least $200,000 (some estimated as much as $500,000) and would take several months.
But Ell, previously a vocal critic of SCC budget measures and campaigner for "fiscal responsibility" justified his agenda saying "the interests of democracy outweigh the cost."
"The level of deception about this issue is a very disappointing display from a newly elected council. I honestly expected better," Ell wrote in the comments thread on his post.
Ell went on to criticise Denise Kemp for blocking people who disageed with her or SIG material on the Facebook residents complaints page.
"It’s just childish and a shame that a group designed to be a forum for the community to discuss issues was used as a political weapon," Ell said.
A few others were less concerned about Paul Ell's political ambitions and more fearful that Green candidate, Takesa Frank, could win on countback.
A geography graduate, farmer and youth worker, Frank recently won awards for Young Environmentalist of the Year and NAIDOC Young Achiever.
Scary? Just when you thought the election was over...
