Ku-ring-gai Council: ninth meeting be to canned amid GM stoush,

A troubled council is set to axe a meeting for a ninth time as a ‘Mexican standoff’ shows no sign being resolved. It comes as the public cost of the squabble has been revealed.

The stalemate at Ku-ring-gai Council is set to continue as a councillor stoush over the general manager’s contract and performance wages on.

A ninth council meeting called by Ku-ring-gai mayor Cedric Spencer since October 9 is expected to be adjourned on Tuesday after five councillors who have been absent from the eight prior meetings provided written apologies stating they were unable to attend.

The previous meetings contained a motion by councillors Christine Kay and Peter Kelly that sought to review the council’s general manager John McKee’s contract of employment, however the meetings could not be held due to lack of quorum requiring at least six councillors in attendance.

Ku-ring-gai Mayor Cedric Spencer.

The motion calls for the “contract for employment of the general manager be reviewed immediately” and the “current management and culture of the council be restructured to better serve the elected body.”

Some of the absent councillors have publicly spoken out against the motion and called for it to be deferred until after the December 4 council election.

Councillor Jennifer Anderson said she was “not aware of any urgent or pressing reason why an extraordinary meeting is required at this time on this topic”, noting the general manager’s performance review was conducted less than four months ago and had received a “more than satisfactory” marking with a rating of 3.76.

Mayor Cedric Spencer wrote to councillors last week stating he would drop the general manager item included as a mayoral minute in Tuesday’s agenda in a bid to break the stalemate and deal with the 33 other agenda items which have been in limbo since October.

Cr Spencer said he intended to withdraw the mayoral minute, which remains an active item on the agenda, once the meeting is underway.

Ku-ring-gai councillor Jennifer Anderson, who previously served as mayor.

“I’ve decided to withdraw it from the agenda because we have important matters we need to deal with before the council is put in caretaker mode.

“The general manager item was raised by Crs Kay and Kelly and the point (of the previous eight) meetings was for all councillors to be heard on the issue. I think it’s important to have it debated so when new councillors come on board following the election the council is properly set up for them.

“People are making out I’m going to fire the general manager which isn’t the case – the agenda doesn’t say that.”

“I don’t know how it’s escalated to the point where it is now – to use a common phrase, it’s become a Mexican standoff.”

Ku-ring-gai Councillor Martin Smith.

Cr Martin Smith said he could not attend Tuesday’s meeting due to an “unavoidable work commitment” but wrote to Cr Spencer after Tuesday’s meeting was called seeking an alternative date on Monday night to deal with the 33 agenda items, with the exclusion of the mayoral minute.

Cr Smith said the proposal was in line with a media statement by Local Government Minister Shelley Hancock last week that stated the council should “refrain from making any decision in relation to the general manager’s employment or other decisions with ramifications for the incoming council.”

“We’ve had extraordinary meetings called on weekends in rapid fire responses and now on Melbourne Cup day to make it look like we’re not bothering to turn up to ordinary meetings which isn’t the case,” Cr Smith said.

The Office of Local Government has been called in to investigate the stalemate and has given councillors until Tuesday to provide an explanation for their absences.

Ku-ring-gai Council’s general manager John McKee.

Ku-ring-gai Council said it was not able to comment on behalf of individual councillors but confirmed the estimated total cost of the deferred meetings to date has tallied approximately $5100.

“The cost of the adjourned meetings has been minimised by non-essential staff attending via Zoom and scaled back catering arrangements,” general manager John McKee said.

Cr Spencer has meanwhile asked a council director whether a mediation can be arranged between the general manager and councillors Kay and Kelly but said he had not received a response as of Monday.

In a statement, John McKee said there was no process provided in the general manager’s contract for mediation with individual councillors, and “no formal proposal for mediation has been made by the mayor”.

The next stages of the Lindfield Village Hub project is one of the agenda items in limbo.

“It should be noted that the original request by councillors Kay and Kelly for the council to consider the general manager’s contract was superseded by the mayor’s mayoral minute. His mayoral minute is still an active item on the agenda,” he said.

Behind the scenes, John McKee has instructed staff not to engage in face-to-face meetings or phone calls with Cr Spencer and only communicate with him in written form using corporate systems.

Mr McKee said the decision was “a result of information coming to my attention” that had “given rise to concerns of a serious nature in my duties as general manager”.

Cr Spencer said the move had impeded his ability to meet with resident groups on matters including infrastructure projects that require operational staff or directors in attendance to answer community questions.

In a statement, Mr McKee said: “The mayor was given reasons as to why these arrangements are necessary (and) the council’s priority at all times is the safety and wellbeing of staff.”

Asked whether residents can feel confident the council is still a functioning organisation, Mr McKee said “staff are continuing to serve the Ku-ring-gai community as normal”.

“This is a political matter and does not affect day-to-day council operations,” he added.

A tenth council meeting has been called for November 16.