Tea Tree Gully Mayor Kevin Knight says he will not quit despite losing the support of all elected members
The mayor of Tea Tree Gully is refusing to resign after a sexual harassment finding, despite losing all support from his councillors and claims he is the victim of a “vendetta”.
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Tea Tree Gully Mayor Kevin Knight will not quit his post – despite losing the support of all elected members.
In his first public comments about his future since councillors unanimously demanded in late June that he stand down from office, Mr Knight said he still had the support of the community.
“I won’t be resigning. I’ve had so much support from the community, I’ve been humbled by it,” Mr Knight said.
“One bloke, whose name I could not remember, said to me: ‘Hang in there, we’ve got your back’.
“I’m the mayor. I take orders from my community.”
He said elected members were “standing in judgment” of him despite his long track record of community service.
“You’re talking to a man who has spent 35 years serving his community with honesty, ethics and transparency,” he said.
Mr Knight has also refused a council request to complete sexual harassment training after an independent investigation found him guilty of patting a female staffer on the backside with a rolled-up document on October 2 last year.
He said he had been the victim of a “vendetta” and there was “no sexual intent” in those actions.
However, he said he could have handled the incident differently.
He thought the staffer was going to block his path at the Modbury civic centre when he tried to walk past.
“Maybe I could have done things better when I thought she was going to move out in front of me,” he said.
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He also said he would not follow a council direction to apologise for making public details of complaints he has lodged against council administration.
It would cost more than $100,000 for a supplementary election if he resigned, plus up to $50,000 for a further ward election if a sitting councillor took his job, Mr Knight said.
Cr Olivia Savvas said the council had done everything in its power to “bring Mr Knight to account for his actions”.
“It is up to the mayor to make a decision regarding his next steps,” Cr Savvas said.