Whistleblower Darren Power puts hope in sacked CEO Sharon Kelsey’s return
A Logan City Council mayoral candidate said if he wins office he will reassess the tenure of the city’s current acting chief executive.
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A LOGAN City Council mayoral candidate said if he won office he would reassess the tenure of the city’s current acting chief executive.
Whistleblower Darren Power, who announced his intention to run for Logan mayor on Saturday, said if elected, he would reassess the term of current Acting CEO Silvio Trinca.
Mr Power also said he still held out hope of working in an administration with sacked CEO Sharon Kelsey.
Ms Kelsey was sacked in February 2018 before Mr Trinca stepped into the interim role.
Mr Power said any decision on the CEO position would depend on what happened in the industrial law suit involving Ms Kelsey, which is due to return to the Court of Appeal in weeks.
“If the Court of Appeal upholds a bid by seven councillors and the former mayor Luke Smith to delay hearing Ms Kelsey’s case while criminal cases are heard, there would be no other option but to replace Mr Trinca who would return to his previous position as a director,” Mr Power said.
“However, if Ms Kelsey’s case proceeds and she wins, I would be happy to serve under her as her mayor.”
Mr Power, 58, who has served at Logan council since 1997, is one of five candidates who have said they want a tilt at the top job.
He joins former mayor John Freeman, Logan Chamber of Commerce president Stewart Fleming; former federal MP for Forde Brett Raguse and former senior executive with Coles Supermarkets Paul Taylor.
Until a week ago, Mr Power was working for the state government as an adviser to Logan council, an appointment he took up after the entire council was sacked in May.
He has been a member of both the ALP and the LNP but said he was no longer aligned with any political party.
He also warned voters to be wary about “outlandish promises” including from mayoral candidates claiming that they could freeze rates.
He said after changes to the Local Government Act, mayors were no longer able to draft their own budgets without full council participation.
If elected, Mr Power said he would keep any rate rises at or below CPI; instigate a mini review of the Logan Planning Scheme; introduce a water recycling program; continue installing solar panels on civic buildings and create better services and activities for the elderly.
Opponent to Mr Power, former Logan mayor John Freeman, promised to freeze rates.
“I will work with the other elected members to freeze rates and charges and to eliminate the waste of ratepayers funds for the 2020 year and beyond and deliver a new sustainable rating strategy,” he said.
“I will also deliver live streaming, broadcasting and recording minutes of all council meetings and introduce a segment at meetings for the public to address council.
“I have never been a member or donor of or to any political party in my life unlike other candidates.”
A tighter waste strategy was part of the plan for Logan Chamber of Commerce president Stewart Fleming.
“I’m going to replace kerbside collection with a local, on-call service that recycles 80 per cent rather than sends 100 per cent to landfill,” he said.
“I will introduce recycling into every school in Logan and work to rebalance the budget to reduce rates while maintaining services,” Mr Fleming said.
“I know I’m the underdog, with business sense rather than political influences, but I’m in with a chance because Logan deserves a fresh start.”
Former Coles supermarket senior executive Paul Taylor also said he would freeze the wages for the mayor and councillors for the term along with rates and charges.
“I will end the luxury car scheme for the mayor and councillors and remove their unrestricted fuel budget,” he said.
“I will install a whistleblowers hotline and reinstate Sharon Kelsey as CEO.
“I also believe rate payers should have a say in development proposals and we need compulsory impact assessments.
“I also want to establish a mayor’s trust fund for veterans and pensioners,” Mr Taylor said.
Former (ALP) federal MP for Forde Brett Raguse said if elected he would instigate a review of the organisation’s finances, senior management skill sets along with ways to cut the cost of producing water and keeping growth in check.
“We can’t cut rates but we can slow down the cost of running the place,” Mr Raguse said.
“Rates should not grow more than CPI and we need better infrastructure in growth areas.”
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