‘Fairest way’: How new councillor will be appointed at meeting

The 11th member to join the Toowoomba Regional Council for the remainder of term will be decided tomorrow with councillors requesting the option to make their votes confidential.

The leadership team who will serve the community for the remainder of the term will be revealed today when the 11th member of the Toowoomba Regional Council is determined at a special meeting.

According to the meeting agenda, councillors will be provided with four recommendations to consider, with the first being to vote for their preferred candidate through a confidential ballot.

The fourth recommendation states “that council appoint (the name of the preferred candidate) to fill the vacant Councillor position”.

Councillor Geoff McDonald stands with fellow councillors after he was named the new Toowoomba Regional Council mayor at a special meeting. Picture: Kevin Farmer

TRC chief executive officer Brian Pidgeon said there was no ‘prescribed process’ council was required to follow when casting their vote to fill the vacant position.

“The first recommendation for council to consider at tomorrow’s special meeting is whether they wish to conduct a ballot or determine a different process they wish to follow to decide the preferred councillor vacancy candidate,” he said.

“Councillors have requested that they be given the option of conducting a confidential ballot to determine its preferred candidate.

“It should be noted the purpose of a ballot is to come to a determination on the preferred candidate and that the actual appointment of the candidate requires a majority vote in the open meeting of council.”

TRC CEO Brian Pidgeon. Picture: Kevin Farmer

Twenty three nominees have put themselves forward for the role and were given the option of providing a Statement of Suitability for the position.

Candidates include Andrew Reeson, Brett Mullen, Daniel McCoy, David King, Douglas Allen, Douglas Doelle, Eakraj Adhikari, Edwina Farquhar, Ellisa Parker, Elizabeth Adams, Irena Kobald, Jane Summers, Joyce Mingay, Kirstie Smolenski, Michael Truskinger, Mikaela Smith, Norman Garsden, Penny Houlahan, Petria Grabham, Philip Spencer, Robert Relvas, Scot McPhie and Yousef Roumieh.

The position became vacant following the resignation of former Mayor Paul Antonio and after he was succeeded by the then Deputy Geoff McDonald.

Councillor Rebecca Vonhoff was then voted in by the majority of her colleagues to step into the role of Deputy Mayor.

While the Mayor and Deputy roles were appointed publicly and openly at a special meeting, Mr Pidgeon said this was due to the lower number of nominees.

Toowoomba Regional Council Mayor Geoff McDonald and Deputy Mayor Rebecca Vonhoff discuss council under their leadership. Picture: Kevin Farmer

“The recent voting process for the roles of Mayor and Deputy Mayor were conducted in a way that was consistent with previous votes for those roles and reflected the much smaller number of possible candidates,” he said.

“A confidential ballot is a fair and efficient way for Councillors to come to a decision given the significant number of 23 nominees for the role.

“A set of publicly available proposed ballot rules have been developed and each candidate will be given equal time at the meeting to address Councillors.

“Each candidate was also invited to submit a statement of suitability for the role which is also publicly available.”

The CEO said Council was confident the way the special meeting will be conducted will be the ‘fairest way possible’ to fill the vacancy until the local government election on March 16.

The special meeting will be livestreamed and available for the public to watch.