Inner West mayor Darcy Byrne fires back over calls to stand down

A new stoush has erupted over calls for the Inner West mayor to stand aside. It comes after last week’s savage parting shot from the departing GM at the warring council.

A motion calling for mayor Darcy Byrne to stand down will be discussed this week as an internal stoush at the Inner West Council intensifies.

Councillor Julie Passas has penned the motion after controversy over the much-maligned Dawn Fraser Pools in Balmain earned the ire of locals and led to the acting general manager to quit over the furore.

A war of words has been playing out over the weekend and on Monday about the motion at the council meeting on Tuesday night.

The mayor responded by lashing the Liberal councillor’s history in public life which includes her being sued for defamation and being found by a tribunal to have homosexually vilified her neighbour in 2017.

Cr Byrne, pictured, labelled the memo “absurd”.

Last Friday the mayor was in hot water after being accused by outgoing general manager Brian Barrett of having personal staffers which cost ratepayers $2.1m in his term, more than several other neighbouring councils.

“The NSW Liberal Party recently adopted, with great fanfare, a new code of conduct that has a zero tolerance for vilification of any kind,” Cr Byrne said.

“The NSW Liberals are in the process of re-endorsing councillor Passas despite her proven homosexual vilification of her neighbour, making a mockery of their code of conduct.

“I call on the NSW Liberals to do the right thing and cancel councillor Passas’s preselection as a Liberal candidate.”

Cr Passas’ motion is asking the mayor to stand down and to be replaced by independent deputy mayor Victor Macri after he referred council staff to the NSW Auditor-General over delays to the Dawn Fraser Baths, his claimed use of social media while chairing meetings and the poor relationships between councillors.

“This is not about me, the mayor had the opportunity to say those things about me in 2017 and didn’t,” Cr Passas said.

Inner West Councillor Julie Passas (pictured). Picture: David Swift

“Why isn’t he addressing the things I’m saying in the motion? Why is he bringing up something from almost five years ago?

“I put it up because people are not happy with him and something had to be done.

“Why is he deflecting.”

It comes after the outgoing general manager delivered a scathing parting shot at the mayor who quit over internal friction he described as “an enormous betrayal”.

Career public servant Brian Barrett last Thursday night sent staff a searing memo accusing the organisation, which covers more than 200,000 Sydney residents, of allowing Mayor Darcy Byrne a group of highly paid staff for his own use.

The memo, seen by the Inner West Courier, details that Cr Byrne has five staffers at his personal disposal who have cost ratepayers approximately $538,000 a year or $2.1 million since he took office.

Two are media advisers while the other three are executive assistants and a part-time “mayor support” officer.

Mr Barrett wrote that was in stark contrast to the mayors of Parramatta, Canterbury-Bankstown, Blacktown, Sutherland, Cumberland and Liverpool who all had only one personal staffer.

“The governance team also make available to him a driver where required,” Mr Barrett wrote.

“As you would appreciate, a policy as loose as Inner West Council’s provides little transparency to members of the public.

“It also has the potential for the resources allocated to be used for purely political purposes notwithstanding the intent of the policy that they would be dedicated to civic purposes only.

“I’m not suggesting that the resources allocated have been used for improper purposes but there could clearly be the appearance that this is the case.”

His last day in the job was April 9 (Friday) and a new permanent general manager is expected to take over in the coming weeks.

Mr Barrett, pictured, finished up his role today after sending the memo out to staff. Picture: Inner West Council

In a statement Cr Byrne said the memo was “absurd” and “self serving” before lashing out at a meeting motion next week seeking to have him removed.

He added that Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore had 29 staffers, whose office later said that was false and that Cr Moore had 20.

“Following concerns and objections raised with me by Local Government NSW about Mr Barrett’s attempts to interfere with the appointment of the new, permanent general manager I have referred Mr Barrett’s actions for independent investigation,” he said.

Cr Byrne said he had received legal advice that Mr Barrett had improperly published a motion from Liberal councillor Julie Passas which sought to have him removed as mayor and replaced by councillor Victor Macri.

The feud began over the much-plagued Dawn Fraser Baths works which has outraged locals in Balmain. Two swimming seasons have been lost over a series of delays.

“It is a matter for Mr Barrett and councillor Passas to explain how and why they have together tabled and published this improper motion for my undemocratic removal as mayor. I call on them to explain their actions.

“The memo is absurd and self-serving. The memo was published at the same time as Mr Barrett published councillor Passas’s motion for my removal as mayor. That seems a very strange coincidence.”

Cr Passas later denied her motion was published in consultation with Mr Barrett.

Mr Barrett announced his resignation at the end of March after he called Cr Byrnes’ calls for an investigation into his council’s handling of the Dawn Fraser Baths in Balmain “an enormous betrayal”.

The iconic baths have been subject to a series of issues which has seen locals miss out on two swimming seasons as a result of repeated delays to works on the harbourside pool.

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