Ku-Ring-Gai Council is in a state of disorder.
A product of escalating internal tensions, a faction of Councillors has astonishingly been absent from the last eight proposed meetings. Critically this non-attendance has effectively blocked any opportunity for business matters to be discussed. Perhaps at the top of the agenda, the ongoing employment of longstanding Council General Manager John McKee.
Mr McKee’s tenure has and continues to be a highly contentious issue in the local community.
Despite receiving a ‘more than satisfactory’ rating from an independent consultant in July, Mr McKee’s performance and remuneration were again put into question by Council Members unhappy with this assessment. Possibly indicative of the deep-seated divisions amongst Ku-Ring-Gai’s elected officials, an August vote to determine Mr McKee’s future was deadlocked. Fortunately for Mr McKee, on account of then-Mayor Jennifer Anderson casting the deciding vote in his favour, he has lived to fight another day in local government.
Ordinarily, the next General Manager performance review would take place following the December 4, 2022, Council Elections. But politically speaking, these are not ordinary times in Sydney’s leafy North Shore.
On September 21, just three months before an election, Mayor Jennifer Anderson lost a challenge to her then deputy, Cedric Spencer. Another case in point of current rifts among Ku-Ring-Gai’s Councillors, this vote’s outcome was once again an even split.
So how did Mayor Spencer win with only a tied vote?
What should only be described as a shining beacon of the democratic process, Mayor Spencer had his name pulled out of a box. Such a method deserves top marks for its unabashed simplicity and impressive stupidity. Maybe our next Federal Election should be decided on a coin toss or spin of the roulette wheel. It must be stated that this ridiculous system is neither candidate’s fault but was a lucky dip for leadership in the best interests of the community?
In any case, Mayor Spencer is now at the helm but surprisingly the matter of Mr McKee’s performance is set to be dredged up and debated once more. Well, this would be the case if not for a bloc of absentee Councillors who have gone adrift from recent Council meetings. Without their attendance, a decision on this and several other pressing matters cannot be made.
Council matters have essentially come to a screeching halt.
Any notion of a coordinated leave of absence has been denied by some parties but Deputy Mayor Sam Ngai has said “Residents find it difficult to believe that these five genuinely could not attend online meetings when they are very active on social media each day. If they refuse to attend online meetings, then why are they on council?”
“This bloc of five councillors has prevented the proper functioning of the council by boycotting council meetings in person and online. Important items such as the Lindfield Village Hub, pedestrian bridge, basketball and netball facilities, various project tenders, and net-zero were to be debated in October. With the upcoming caretaker period and elections, Council may not be able to address some of these again until February.”
In an attempt to resolve this escalating situation Minister for Local Government Shelly Hancock has asked the Council to “refrain from making any decision in relation to the general manager’s employment or other decisions with ramifications for the incoming council.”
Mrs Hancock also added, “Councillors were elected by the local community to do a job, and that’s exactly what local residents expect them to do.”
Whether Mrs Hancock’s message is heeded by either faction is yet to be determined. Will the Ku-Ring-Gai Council’s elected representatives live up to its commitment of ‘delivering the highest quality service, valued and trusted by our community’ or continue to perpetuate this groundhog day cycle of petulance?
The next scheduled council meeting is on 16 November.