There have been calls for Edward River Mayor Peta Betts to resign, after ugly scenes at a council meeting on Tuesday evening.
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An issue around an apology for non-attendance by Cr Pat Fogarty led to a heated exchange, during which Cr Betts was labelled “heartless” and Cr Harold Clapham was asked by the mayor to leave the council chambers.
On Wednesday, Cr Fogarty confirmed to the Pastoral Times that following the incident she was considering her future on council.
When asked if she meant “immediately or at the next election” (due in September) she replied “both”.
Cr Fogarty is the ERC’s most experienced councillor, with a distinguished local government career spanning 20 years and including roles as former Deniliquin Mayor and the inaugural Edward River Council Deputy Mayor.
Cr Shirlee Burge also advised all councillors that she would not be attending the extraordinary meeting, with a detailed explanation of her concerns around the new resolution.
Cr Burge said on Wednesday that councillors had agreed to support Cr Betts “to maintain stability and calm after the events of March 19”, however after the events of recent days “I have now withdrawn my support”.
Cr Burge was especially critical of the extraordinary meeting being called at a time when it was known Cr Fogarty was unable to attend, and questioned reasons for this.
She said Cr Fogarty was the only one who had responded to her email and believed this was because “others (were told) not to respond to anything I sent”.
The Pastoral Times has been told private discussions have been held around various solutions to resolve dysfunction within council, with particular concerns around the performance of Mayor Betts, including judgement and her demeanour towards those who she does not see as supporters.
Residents have written letters, including to the Minister for Local Government Ron Hoenig, asking him to consider placing council in administration and asking him for “your assistance in restoring order and good governance”.
Tuesday’s issue arose just a week after council sacked its CEO Phil Stone, and occurred at the start of an extraordinary meeting to revise the motion around the appointment of former director of infrastructure Mark Dalzell as acting general manager.
The ruckus occurred at the start of the extraordinary meeting when Mayor Betts, in the chair, noted she did not have apologies or applications for leave of absence from Crs Shirlee Burge or Pat Fogarty, and asked for this to be noted.
Cr Clapham pointed out that councillors were aware that Cr Fogarty had taken her husband Richard to Melbourne for cancer treatment. She had advised of her non-attendance for a workshop that was originally scheduled for 6pm Tuesday, until the mayor decided to instead hold the extraordinary meeting at that time.
Responding to Cr Clapham, Cr Betts said: “That is correct councillor, but that (apology) was for the workshop which was planned before this extraordinary meeting. They still need to apply for …”
Cr Clapham interjected, stating “we were made aware of what was going on … other councillors were acutely aware”.
To that, Cr Betts responded: “Councillor enough, they haven’t applied for leave of absence. End of story.”
Cr Clapham: “Because you’re heartless and have no care …”
Cr Betts: “Councillor enough; you can leave the chambers.”
Cr Clapham: “Okay, thank you …”
Cr Betts: “Leave the chambers. No more; thankyou.”
On Wednesday Cr Clapham apologised to the community for “the unedifying scene at council last night”, adding “it did not reflect well on council, and does the community a disservice to see its leaders behaving like that”.
Cr Betts was non-apologetic.
“Technically, you know, councillors have to apply for leave. That didn’t come and I had no idea who was showing up last night, so I said there was no formal leave of absence or apologies from councillors Fogarty or Burge as per the code of meeting practice,” she said when meeting with the Pastoral Times on Wednesday.
Cr Betts said she asked for that to be noted “and I was happy to move on from there … from my point of view it was simply noting that I hadn’t received them officially. It was noted and that should have been the end of the story.”
When asked about the exchange with Cr Clapham, the mayor described it as “disappointing”, saying “I had just finished reading the requirements of the council and, you know, you respect the rule of the chair”.
Cr Fogarty said on Wednesday the budget workshop was originally scheduled for 6pm on Tuesday and she had advised she would be unable to attend. The workshop was preceded by the extraordinary meeting.
“I was under the impression that by advising I could not attend the original meeting (ie. the workshop) that the apology would be extended to the new meeting at the same time.
“We’re not Sydney City Council … I was very grateful to Harold for his support in standing up. I’m just sorry he had to wear such abuse.”
In a letter to the editor on page 13 of today’s edition, local resident Jodie Clark said she believed Mayor Betts’ behaviour was “detrimental to the functioning of our local government and compromises the wellbeing of our community”, and called on the mayor to “resign immediately”.
Another local businessman, who asked not to be named for fear of retribution, has sent a letter to Local Government Minister Ron Hoenig.
In it, he described how in his view the mayor at Tuesday night’s meeting “angrily and emotionally ejected a councillor”.
“A quick scroll of social media comments should show the level of disgust in the community … this current environment cannot surely be allowed to continue and thrive,” the Minister was told.
The letter has also been sent to local and state politicians, including Member for Farrer Sussan Ley, Senator Perin Davey and Member for Murray Helen Dalton.
Cr Fogarty maintains the mayor “overstepped the mark” on Tuesday night, and said it was perhaps time the council had a “clean slate” heading into the election.
“I believe too much water has passed under the bridge, and I do feel it is in the best interests of the mayor, this council and the community for her to resign.”
“I simply cannot condone the mayor’s actions to one of my fellow councillors, and to not call for her resignation would be doing just that - condoning those actions.
“No one deserves to be treated like that in any forum.”
When asked if he too support calls for the Mayor to step down, Cr Clapham said he would prefer not to comment.
“If it a difficult question to answer; I feel that is a decision for the mayor to make.”
Newspaper