‘No-support’ councillors left out of email loop Keith Platt keith@mpnews.com.au
Kate Briscoe and her artworks. Picture: Supplied
Gallery ready to reopen tions for those lucky enough to live in the area,” she said. “A big thanks to those legend collectors who have bought online during this period. Nothing makes me happier than contacting an artist and letting them know a work has sold, particularly during this time. “So, stay safe, get vaccinated, keep exploring, discovering, collecting art and we will see you by the seaside very soon.” & Gallery is at 163 Ocean Beach Road, Sorrento. Email: gallery@djprojects.net or call 0417 324 795.
KATE Briscoe’s art exhibition Geologica – Rockfaces opens at & Gallery in Sorrento, 5-22 November. “We have kept the exhibition by Kate [over lockdown] so visitors can see all the gorgeous textures of this magnificent body of work,” director Julie Collins said. Ms Collins described lockdown as having been a “long hard slog but was “super happy” to be reopening”. “We have been busy doing some minor renovations and giving the gallery a fresh look. We have also been having fun curating our windows to the street with changing mini exhibi-
MORNINGTON Peninsula Shire mayor Cr Despi O’Connor left five of the 11 councillors out of an email discussion because she knew they would not support changes she wanted to council’s operating rules. “I knew I wouldn’t get their support,” Cr Despi O’Connor said last Friday. Cr O’Connor said she had also chosen not to mention the amendments to the Governance Rules during a confidential councillor briefing before the public 14 August online council meeting. “Yes, we could have [mentioned the amendments], but not all stuff - lots of amendments as a matter of fact, amendments from the last two meetings - [are not discussed]. So that’s not unusual.” The amendments subsequently passed at the council meeting with a 6:5 majority have been labelled unlawful by former councillor Hugh Fraser, a barrister, although his interpretation is disputed by the shire’s in-house lawyer Amanda Sapolu (“Council denies rules ‘unlawful’” The News 27/9/21). As shown by emails released under Freedom of Information, Cr O’Connor contacted shire CEO John Baker nearly two weeks before the 24 August meeting about reinstating several previously deleted parts of the Governance Rules. Cr O’Connor said the parts she wanted put back in had been “best practice rules stripped back” by Cr Steve Holland and then councillor Hugh Fraser. She said the Governance Rules preferred by Crs Holland and Fraser had been sent to councillors at short notice and “no one had a chance to read it”.
“I asked John Baker for the list of rules that got stripped out and I went through them and chose the ones that I felt needed to go through and … forwarded it to six councillors that I knew may be supportive and I just said I want your support to get these back in,” Cr O’Connor said. However, as mayor, Cr O’Connor was unable to move the amendments at the 24 August meeting, so they were introduced one hour into the debate by Cr Sarah Race, the deputy mayor. Cr Race at the time apologised for the lateness, saying home schooling, COVID and late nights had made it “a bit of a process for me” (“Majority rules on changes before vote” The News 19/10/21). There have been also calls for Cr O’Connor to resign or that the process she followed - including leaving five councillors out of the email loop - to amend the Governance Rules be referred to the Local Government Inspectorate (Letters page 19). Cr O’Connor told The News on Friday (22 October) that not sending emails to five councillors was not a reason for her to resign. “I’ve not broken any rules. We haven’t actually done the wrong thing,” she said. “I will stand on my integrity because there is nothing that I have done wrong. I haven’t broken any rule in the Governance Rules. Not one. “A lot of the time other councillors aren’t sharing with me as mayor. They are not [mayor] but we are … all equal in our role. “I don’t have to contact the other five councillors, like they don’t have to send it through to anybody else. “It’s the same, just the same, we’re all equals in these positions. [There is] no separate rule for the mayor.”
our vision
SPRI NG SA L E
"TO BE THE MORNINGTON PENINSULA'S LEADING DESTINATION FOR GOLF AND ENTERTAINMENT IN A RELAXED AND FRIENDLY ENVIRONMENT"
O N W H O L E H O U S E CA R P E T O R F LO O R I N G O R D E R S *
*conditions apply
M E N T I O N T H I S A DV E RT TO R E D E E M T H I S O F F E R • CARPETS • TIMBERS • LAMINATES • VINYL• TILES • BLINDS • ENGINEERED FLOORS • HYBRIDS • PLANTATION SHUTTERS • FLOOR SANDING & POLISHING • WALLPAPER P LU S! Luxury Bremworth# Wool Carpets and a huge range of Timbers and Oaks available in store #
OPEN
7 DAYS
Carrum Downs Store Only
Shop 2/544-546 Frankston-Dandenong Rd, Carrum Downs Shop 9/991 Point Nepean Rd, Rosebud
1300 069 340 www.mikescarpets.com.au
CONTACT US FOR A FREE MEASURE & QUOTE
Connect with us
Two 18 Hole Championship Courses ~ Driving Range Restaurant ~ Bowls Club ~ Memberships Available Green Fee players & visitors welcome
For membership information please contact the Club by email: marketing@rcc.golf by phone: (03) 5950 0800 www.rosebudcountryclub.com.au 207 Boneo Road, Rosebud VIC 3939 Southern Peninsula News
27 October 2021
PAGE 3