Maranoa councillor Wendy Taylor runs for mayor, slams Tyson Golder

A current councillor and mayoral candidate has launched a scathing attack on current Maranoa mayor Tyson Golder, declaring she could no longer serve on council alongside him.

Mayoral candidate for the Maranoa Regional Council, councillor Wendy Taylor, has launched a scathing attack on Tyson Golder.

Maranoa councillor and mayoral candidate Wendy Taylor has launched an explosive salvo at incumbent mayor Tyson Golder, declaring she would not be able to serve another term with him in the top job.

Before being elected to council Mrs Taylor owned and operated Taylor’s Spare Parts in Roma and Charleville with her husband Peter.

She was elected for her first term on Maranoa council in 2020, but after four years said she either wants the top job, or none at all.

Wendy Taylor is running for Mayor after one term as councillor on the Maranoa Regional Council.

Tyson Golder defended his tenure as Mayor, saying the proof of his success as Mayor was in the pudding.

“I really feel the Maranoa can’t go another four years with (Tyson Golder) as mayor,” Mrs Taylor said.

“I’m going for mayor because I can’t be a councillor if he is mayor.”

In direct response to Mrs Taylor’s scathing assessment of his tenure as mayor, Mr Golder said the proof that he has been, and will continue to be, a good mayor was in the pudding.

“What I can say is every time we have a monthly report, and figures are better than people think, we see people very disappointed and getting upset about it. It’s almost like they’re trying to find negative things,” Mr Golder said.

“Financially, there are so many indicators we’re kicking goals it’s not funny.”

Drawing the particular ire of Mrs Taylor was the Unity Maranoa ticket – a declared group of councillors led by Mr Golder – as a key factor she believed had hindered the council’s ability to make decisions which are genuinely in the best interest of the community.

Mr Golder sits at the head of a group of councillors known as Unity Maranoa, which in the current term, is made up of John Birkett, Mark Edwards, Julie Guthrie and George Ladbrook. Unity Maranoa currently has a majority in the Maranoa council chambers.

Mrs Taylor said she believed the councillors who were part of Unity Maranoa were not independent.

“They are not individuals, they are not independent,” Mrs Taylor said.

In response, Tyson Golder said the councillors who were part of Unity Maranoa were independent, and only vote together on a predetermined set of promises.

“I’m a very independent person, all the councillors in Unity are independent, but we agree on a plan of getting things done, that’s what it’s about,” he said.

Mrs Taylor said she believed the existence of a group in the council chambers hindered the ability of council to negotiate.

“Even if people don’t want me as their mayor, I’m asking them to put in eight individual councillors so that the magic can happen in that room,“ she said.

Mayor Tyson Golder with his proposed 2019/20 budget.

Mr Golder said Unity Maranoa was founded in response to his frustration after his first term as mayor, when he felt he had not been able to achieve as much as he could have.

“There are people behind the scenes that try to orchestrate things, and there’s nothing like honesty of saying what you’re going to do before you do it,“ he said.

“That’s what Unity is about – is actually getting things done.”

Mr Golder said there are other groups of councillors who vote together, despite not being an officially listed group.

“To give you an idea, if you watch all the council meetings, you will see that there is another group of councillors that vote together more than Unity votes together and they’re not an actual official group but they are a group that vote together more than unity does,” he said.

The criticism of Mr Golder follows changes in recent years to the operating structure of Maranoa Regional Council which saw five local directors appointed to each of the previous shires which make up the current Maranoa region.

Maranoa Region Councillor Wendy Taylor said her three daughters motivate her every day and give her the strength to meet the challenges of being a councillor.

Mrs Taylor said she was concerned that the addition of local directors to the council structure was adding unnecessary operating costs, however Mr Golder responded by saying the cost of the directors was less than the savings they make due to their increased efficiency.

“To give you an idea it’s only approximately 2 per cent of their budget they need to save to pay for themselves,” Mr Golder said.

“When you have oversight, the cost of the local directors is minor.”

Mrs Taylor also took aim at the rate freezes implemented by Mr Golder in 2020, saying it was “just a populist decision”.

In response, Mr Golder said he disagreed.

“Any person running a business would look and say you just can’t keep having rates increases above CPI,“ he said.

“It was also very good for the organisation to understand that they could have a rates freeze.

“It’s farcical to say you always have to have increases.”

There are four candidates in the race for mayor of the Maranoa region – incumbent mayor Tyson Golder, incumbent deputy mayor Geoff McMullen, Wendy Taylor and David Schefe.

Of these candidates, Mr McMullen, Mrs Taylor and Mr Schefe have all expressed the view that council policy needs to change in order to ensure the future financial viability of the region.

Incumbent deputy Mayor, Geoff McMullen, is also running for the top job.

David Schefe, another Mayoral candidate, has also expressed his concern for the Maranoa’s finances.

Mr McMullen said removing rate capping would be his priority if he is elected.

“If elected I would propose to remove capping as soon as possible. Capping is a tool that was introduced to restrict inconsistent rating increases bought on by significant inequitable variations in the unimproved value for many ratepayers. The long-term use of this mechanism has created inequities for some ratepayers,” Mr McMullen

Equally, Mr Schefe said he had similar concerns about the financial state of the region.

“I have concerns about the current direction of council and the future financial viability of our region. We really need to turn the corner now to avoid a disaster,” he said.

Polls opened March 4 for early voting, with election day on March 16.

For more information about who has nominated click here.

To find out everything you need to know before polls open click here.

Originally published as Maranoa councillor Wendy Taylor runs for mayor, slams Tyson Golder