Tea Tree Gully Council may not have a quorum in the lead-up to the state election

SO many councillors are considering standing at the next State Government election, there are fears this northeastern council may struggle to find enough sitting members to operate.

Tea Tree Gully Council may struggle to find a quorum in the lead up to the next State election.

TEA Tree Gully Council could struggle to find enough elected members to operate in the lead up to next year’s State election, one of its senior councillors believes.

Cr Robin Coleman told the Leader Weekly the council may struggle to find a working minority, or a quorum, of at least seven councillors needed to function early next year.

Four elected members – Paula Luethen-Soper, Mayor Kevin Knight, Damian Wyld and another unnamed councillor – are in the mix for the next State Government election in March.

Cr Paula Luethen-Soper, will stand for the Liberal Party.

Mayor Kevin Knight may run as an ndependent.

If they all run, the council could lose all four during the election campaign under a Local Government Association-supported policy that sitting members must stand down.

A State Government insider told Leader Weekly the council could “lose five (elected members) before they run in to issues”.

In an unfortunate twist, Cr Jim McLafferty is battling ill health and it is unknown when – or if – he will return to the council chambers, although the council says he has not taken a leave of absence.

Tea Tree Gully Cr Robin Coleman is “very concerned”.

Cr Damian Wyld ... looks to represent at a state level.

Cr Robin Coleman said he was “very concerned” the council might not find a minority to operate.

“The council has found itself in an interesting position to put it mildly,” he said.

“We could be flat out getting a quorum.

“I’m very concerned. We have 100,000 people to represent, to ensure proper decisions are made for the residents and ratepayers in the future.”

The council’s number of elected members will return to 13 after a replacement for Justin Hanson – who has replaced retiring MLC Gerry Kandelaars in the State Upper House – is announced in mid-June.

Ms Luethen-Soper is the only councillor to be selected as a candidate. She will stand for the Liberal Party in the seat of King.

Mr Knight is toying with the idea of running as an independent in the same seat, while Cr Damian Wyld, a Liberal Party member, ran for the seat of Florey in 2014 and has not ruled out running again next year.

Another councillor is understood to be considering a tilt at the election, possibly for Labor.

The State Government insider did not expect the council to be down on numbers for long.

“It’s typical for council members to take leave only for the campaign, or part of it ... this may only cover one or two council meetings,” he said.

Former Tea Tree Gully Mayor Miriam Smith says the council needs stability now, not just in the lead-up to next year’s State election. Picture: Stephen Laffer

However, former Mayor Miriam Smith, who was council boss for seven straight years until she quit in 2014, said the council needed stability now, not in March.

“It’s not good,” she said.

“You might ask where does the stabilisation of the council sit in March? Well, where is the stabilisation of the council right now?

“There’s a lot of shrouded comments being made (publicly) ... the level of attacks on one another publicly doesn’t built a strong council and it doesn’t instil confidence from a community’s point of view.”

She said “supposition” about political elected members’ ambitions was having a destabilising affect on council staff.

“It (supposition) raises a political culture around the council with its decision-making,” she said.

“These conversations are more destabilising than somebody who has been nominated (by a political party) and been through the formal process legally and been verified.

“Paula Luethen-Soper is the only legitimate candidate.

“I’ve seen quite a number of elections through, there's always a lot of talk leading up. A lot was not helpful.

“You’ve got a lot of conjecture about, there’s nothing substantial coming through.”

Cr Paul Barbaro, who lost his battle for Liberal Party preselection for Wright earlier this year, has declared he will not run as an independent.