Bid for referendum on mayor selection fails

With the exception of Crs Peter Epov, Jeremy Miller and Bell, councillors were passionately opposed to the motion, putting forward their views for more than 30 minutes at the February 28 meeting.

Before the vote, Cr Bell asked for Mid-Coast residents to decide.

"It is their council, it's their representation, and it is their civic leader," she said.

The Local Government Act provides two methods for which a mayor can obtain office; by popular vote at an ordinary election or by vote amongst councillors.

Following the merger of Great Lakes, Gloucester and Greater Taree councils in 2016 the state government directed that mayors of a new council were to be elected by councillors.

The former Greater Taree City Council had a popularly elected mayor.

"The minister and his department made this wholesale decision based on how legislation require for the mayor to attain office," Cr Bell said.

"This was not the people deciding and we do have an opportunity for the people to decide

"This was not the choice of our community, but our community can and have that choice.

"Residents have to date been denied that opportunity to express their opinion as to the election of their civic leader.

"This is about democracy."

Cr Jeremy Miller, who in the past had supported a councillor elected mayor, said he was torn.

"But, it goes back to first principals," Cr Miller said.

"It is not about if people in this room think we should have a popularly elected mayor or not," he said.

"It is about what everyone else thinks.

"I believe deeply in democracy and asking the people what they think.

"I find it very hard to argue against asking the people."

Mayor Claire Pontin shared she would not be running for mayor in 2028 council elections before putting forward her views on holding the referendum

There are many examples where there was a risk popular mayors don't always work out well for their community, Cr Pontin said.

"(They) come in, wreak havoc on council and don't have the support of councillors and that leads to a very dysfunctional council," she said.

Cr Pontin said there had been instances where the Office of Local Government had stepped in and ordered councils to revert back of a councillor elected mayor to avoid problems.

"As it stands now the people have the right to elect 11 councillors using their democratic capacity to make a vote," deputy mayor, Alan Tickle said.

"Then as it stands now those 11 have the capacity to choose their captain, their mayor," he said.

"Part of our roles as councillors is to provide leadership to the community and often the information that we have and the understanding of matters go more deeply than what the average person would have out in the community.

"Having worked with two systems of a popularly elected mayor or one elected by the councillors, I favour one elected by the councillors."

According to Cr Paul Sandilands, despite not having popularly elected mayor, both the former Great Lakes and Gloucester councils functioned well.

"I spend a lot of time in the community in various areas all over our council area and I don't have people clambering in my ear saying we need to popularly elect our mayor."

He said this type of election could become a popularity contest - who has a bigger wallet, who can put more posters up, not necessarily who is the most talented one for the job.

"The mayor needs to work with everybody, the community need to vote for the councillors that they trust, and then those councillors vote for the mayor." Cr Katheryn Stinson said.

"If you can't put trust in your councillor, then you are voting for the wrong councillor."

Cr Peter Howard, who previously supported a popularly elected mayor, said he believed there was no need to change the current system, a system that rewarded performance rather than words.

"Being inside council, and watching how council has worked and watching how the mayor worked over the last two and a bit years I've been on council, I think the current system works very well."