Taree, Forster, Gloucester amalgamation raised in MidCoast Council mayor debate

A MidCoast councillor wants to bring the “cat out from the pigeons” and hold a referendum on de-amalgamation. Meanwhile, the mayoral vote has come under scrutiny. Here’s the latest.

MidCoast Councillor Kathryn Bell and mayor Claire Pontin.

A MidCoast councillor wants to bring the “cat out from the pigeons” and hold a referendum on de-amalgamation, it was heard at a recent meeting.

Debate fired up on Wednesday in response to councillor Kathryn Bell’s motion to hold a referendum letting the public decide on how the mayor is elected.

However, councillor Dheera Smith said the real issue was de-amalgamation.

“In an attempt to win community support, councillor Bell has got it wrong; perhaps if we want to have a referendum that costs $90,000 or more we should go back to the first question that made people unhappy – amalgamation,” Ms Smith said.

MidCoast Council was formed in 2016 following the amalgamation of Gloucester, Great Lakes and Taree Councils.

Taree’s mayor was elected by the community in what’s known as a popular vote, with the others elected by councillors.

The former Taree Council building was used as the head MidCoast Council office after amalgamation in 2016 and prior to the move out to the old Bunnings Building.

Following amalgamation it was determined the new MidCoast Council mayor would be elected by councillors.

There are 128 local councils in NSW and the minority of them, less than 40 including nearby Port Macquarie-Hastings Council, have popularly elected mayors.

Ms Bell said information she received indicated the referendum, which would be held in conjunction with the next council meeting in September, would cost between $45,000 to $90,000.

She said debate should not be about the pros and cons of the two ways of electing mayors, but about giving people the choice.

MidCoast Councillor Dheera Smith.

Mayor Pontin was the first to indicate she would not be supporting the motion adding she had “absolutely no intention of running as mayor” at the next election.

She said there was great risk involved with popularly elected mayors and the possibility they could run with the “intention of wreaking havoc”.

She referred to one example where the Office of Local Government had to intervene.

Long-term councillor Alan Tickle has experienced both forms of mayoral voting and believes councillors should decide.

“The most effective person could well be the one who doesn’t have the financial capacity to mount a campaign against a person with a deeper wallet,” Mr Tickle said.

MidCoast Councillor Paul Sandilands.

Using even more colourful analogies, councillor Paul Sandilands said Germany took a chance on a popular leader in the 1930s and 40s and “look where that got them”.

He added more recently the United States took a chance on a man with “verbiage and dollars and who has spent too much time on a sun-bed”, referencing former president Donald Trump.

Mr Sandilands is from Forster, which once fell within the Great Lakes Council area. He echoed Ms Smith’s sentiment that the legacy of the 2016 amalgamation was more of a concern to the community.

“I don’t have people clamouring in my ear that we need a popular mayor but de-amalgamation is on the list,” he said.

Councillor Katheryn Stinson from Gloucester, one of the smaller towns in the electorate, described elections as ugly, horrible, terrible and no-fun as they were already.

She said she could not support “throwing the mayor vote on top of that”.

When put to the vote, it was only councillors Peter Epov and Jeremy Miller who supported Ms Bell’s motion to hold a referendum to let the people decide, leaving her “gobsmacked”.

Originally published as Taree, Forster, Gloucester amalgamation raised in MidCoast Council mayor debate