Race is ‘on’ for mayor SARAH Race (right), this year’s deputy mayor, remains favourite to be the next mayor in a sweep being run by a group of Mornington Peninsula Shire Council officers. However, the race to next month’s prestigious finish saw the odds on Cr Race ease over the week from 2:1 to 3:1, with Cr Lisa Dixon as her deputy (“Lining up for mayoral stakes” The News 12/10/21). With punters backing just five starters out of the council’s 11 members, Cr Race is also second and third favourite at 6:1 with the current mayor Cr Despi O’Connor as her deputy and 10:1 with Cr Anthony Marsh as deputy (a big improvement from 20:1 last week). Equal third favourite are the 10:1 combinations of Cr Marsh being mayor with Cr Race as his deputy; Cr O’Connor as mayor with Cr Marsh deputy; and Cr O’Connor mayor with Cr Race deputy. Last in the field at 15:1 is the all-male combination of Cr Marsh mayor with Cr Paul Mercurio as his deputy. Jockeying for the top job is known as the annual “mayoral dance”. Being mayor comes with a $100,000 plus allowance and a car (the mayor mobile, currently an electric BMW hatch). Councillors left completely out of the betting field at this stage are Antonella Celi, Steve Holland, David Gill, Kerri McCafferty, Susan Bissinger and Debra Mar. The next mayor will be elected by councillors at the Tuesday 16 November annual meeting. With five councillors being seen as either mayor or deputy mayor, the winner will most likely be decided by the six councillors left out of the running. Keith Platt
Majority knew about changes planned for council rules Continued from Page 1 During the 24 August meeting Cr Race said she was ”committed to the process of good governance” and added “we’re all in the same storm, different boats” (“No easy path for council rules” The News 30/8/21). The five councillors who had not been told about the amendments reacted angrily, with Cr Bissinger describing them as “as last minute ambush”. Cr Celi was “glad this meeting is being live streamed so the community can see how the council operates”. Cr Mar, not knowing the amendments had been vetted by Ms Sapolu, Mr Baker and six other councillors, believed they had not been thought through properly. But Cr Mercurio, one of the six councillors included in the string of pre-meeting emails, said the changes “were not substantial”. Cr Marsh, also one of the emailed six, said the amendments “are not something sprung on us, they’re not new”. Former councillor Hugh Fraser has since questioned the legality of the new Governance Rules (“Council denies rules ‘unlawful’” The News 27/9/21). The argument over the legality of the new rules revolves around whether the changes were significant or “one or two minor changes”, as described by legal and governance manager Ms Sapolu. Mr Fraser, a barrister, says the amendments – which include increasing the powers of the shire’s CEO and restrictions on notices of motion – were so significant that they should have been exhibited for public comment. Cr O’Connor, who had email discussions about the proposed amendments with Ms Sapolu and CEO John Baker days before the 24 August meeting, saw them as being “not significant”. In a 29 June email to Craig Thomson, of Wildlife Ecosystems Retention & Restoration, about the use of notices of motion Cr Race stated: “I do not make policy by thought bubble, I do not expect any of my councillor colleagues to either, we should be as informed as we possibly can.”
Councillor aims for state seat MORNINGTON Peninsula Shire councillor Steve Holland is believed to be one of four Liberal Party candidates seeking to take over the Upper House seat of Eastern Victoria about to be vacated by Edward O’Donohue. Mr O’Donohue announced last month that he would retire by Christmas, less than one year out from the next state election. Other Liberals in the running to fill the vacancy are Renee Heath, a member of the City Builders Church and a member of the party’s administration committee; journalist and author Sue Smethurst; and Yarra Ranges councillor, Catherine Burnett-Wake. The successful candidate will be chosen by an online vote of party members. If successful in becoming an MP for Eastern Victoria, Cr Holland, one of three Briars Ward
councillors, would be replaced by one of the 12 failed candidates at the November 2020 poll in a countback conducted by the Victorian Electoral Commission. The countback and election of a new councillor for Briars Ward would follow that conducted in Nepean Ward after the resignation in March of Cr Hugh Fraser who was replaced by runner-up Susan Bissinger in April. Mr O’Donohue, one of five MPs representing the upper house seat of Eastern Victoria, announced he would leave parliament before the end of 2021 shortly after Matthew Guy took over as state Opposition Leader (“Liberals on move under new leader” The News 21/9/21). The region of Eastern Victoria includes the peninsula and Frankston as well as East Gippsland. Keith Platt
Before we can do the thing we want to do, there’s something we all need to do first. Book your COVID-19 vaccination. Visit Australia.gov.au or call 1800 020 080.
Authorised by the Australian Government, Canberra. Southern Peninsula News
20 October 2021
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