Glamorgan Spring Bay mayor Michael Kent avoids no confidence motion

AN attempt to oust Glamorgan Spring Bay mayor Michael Kent has been temporarily thwarted after a special council meeting called to discuss his future was abandoned.

Glamorgan-Spring Bay Council mayor Michael Kent, one of the Jacqui Lambie Network candidates for Lyons, is facing pressure from the seven other councillors to step aside. Picture: PATRICK GEE

DISGRUNTLED Glamorgan Spring Bay councillors have been urged to put their community’s best interests first as they pushed a no-confidence motion against mayor Michael Kent.

The Director of Local Government Alex Tay wrote to councillors urging them to reconsider pursuing the motion ahead of Tuesday night’s special council meeting.

The meeting had been requested by seven of the council’s eight councillors, who also want Cr Kent to step aside from his role as mayor while he campaigns for the Jacqui Lambie Network in the State Election.

However, the council was forced to abandon the meeting after Cr Kent removed himself from proceedings, resulting in a lack of a quorum due to the absence of three other councillors.

In an unusual step, general manager David Metcalf read Mr Tay’s letter aloud before the meeting commenced.

The letter urged councillors to consider whether their actions were in the community’s best interests, and suggested they read the Glenorchy Board of Inquiry report.

Mr Tay asked whether the council could “limp on” to the October elections, or whether the situation would become untenable.

“I have been weighing up the situation since I met with councillors and senior staff in spring last year, but ‘positions’ and personal conflicts appear so entrenched that any ‘soft intervention’ or assistance measures are unlikely to change things,” the letter said.

The Director of Local Government reviewed the performance of the Glamorgan Spring Bay Council in 2015 after recieving a number of complaints.

The four attending councillors issued a joint statement following the meeting, saying they were disappointed that only four of the seven councillors who called for the special meeting had attended.

However, they said it was unsurprising due to the pressure being applied by Mr Tay.

The four said they were concerned about Cr Kent’s “failure to act as a leader; to comply with meeting regulations; to act as the spokesperson of the council and to appropriately oversee the councillors in the performance of their functions and in the exercise of their powers”.

In a statement on Monday Cr Kent said he had no intention of standing aside.

The meeting is expected to be recalled within 14 days.