National Cartoon Gallery at The Bunker: Coffs Harbour council funding vote halted
In an “extraordinary situation for all involved” five Coffs councillors revealed they had received political donations from a board member of a gallery asking for taxpayer funds to keep it afloat.
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In an “extraordinary situation for all involved”, five Coffs councillors revealed they had received political donations from a board member of a gallery asking for taxpayer funds to keep it afloat.
The gallery has been the recipient of millions of dollars of grants over the years from various levels of government including $2.6 million from the state in 2018 for a major redevelopment.
It has struggled to stay financially viable and in March last year became insolvent and closed for five months before re-opening in August with another revamp – this time to create the National Holden Museum.
In the lead up to the City of Coffs Harbour council meeting on Thursday, it was revealed that five of the nine councillors had received a significant reportable donation from a representative of The National Cartoon Gallery.
Mayor Nikki Williams and councillors George Cecato, Cath Fowler, Les Oxford and Gurminder Saro declared the conflict, meaning they could not take part in a vote on whether or not council should grant the gallery a $60,000 subsidy.
With five out of nine councillors unable to participate, a quorum could not be formed and the vote could not proceed.
“It was an extraordinary situation for all involved - senior, experienced council staff had never faced such a situation before,” Councillor Tony Judge said.
“I was advised that the disclosure by councillors was not completed until the night before the meeting and that made it more difficult.”
With council agendas available several days prior to meetings, Mr Judge said the late notice made it harder to be “prepared and more aware of the options for dealing with a difficult situation”.
But Mayor Nikki Williams said she “simply didn’t realise” that the person who had given the donations was a member of the gallery board until just prior to the meeting.
Ms Williams and Ms Fowler have both pointed out that due to their conflict of interest they were unable to comment on the original motion, supported by council staff, to provide a $60,000 subsidy to the gallery.
Once it was clear council could not decide on the vote, an alternative option of having acting general manager Andrew Beswick make the call, was raised.
Allowing a general manager to make a call on funding is “quite common practice” Ms Williams said.
Ultimately that option was voted down during a heated debate.
Instead, a council committee will be established made up of the acting general manager and the four councillors who did not get a political donation from a gallery representative (Paul Amos, Tony Judge, Julie Sechi and Jonathan Cassell) to decide if the gallery will receive more funding.
“The timing of that process is yet to be determined and I am satisfied that we reached a solution in the end that preserves the integrity of council decision making,” Mr Judge said.
State member for Coffs Harbour Gurmesh Singh has been a strong supporter of the gallery and urges council to grant the gallery’s latest request for funding.
“Compared to the other cultural assets in Coffs Harbour run by council, like Yarrila Place and The Jetty Theatre, this would be the cheapest investment in culture that council can make,” Mr Singh said.
In relation to the conflict of interest among the five councillors, he said they have managed it appropriately and “done exactly the right thing” by removing themselves from the vote.
Gallery Manager Bruce Nelson was contacted but declined to make a comment.
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Originally published as National Cartoon Gallery at The Bunker: Coffs Harbour council funding vote halted
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