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| Rachel Power. |
Responding to the New Norfolk News' request for information about what decision the council had made in its closed meeting after the AGM last Thursday night, Cr Power today said no formal decisions had been made.
Cr Power, deputy mayor Jessica Cosgrove and mayor Ben Shaw have made a number of comments on social media about what they described as bullying, particularly during the annual general meeting.
In video posted on Facebook on Friday, Cr Power said councillors, staff and members of the public had been bullied and intimidated during the AGM and the monthly meeting that followed it. She said five people in the public gallery had caused an uproar and about 20 people had encouraged them.
Cr Cosgrove said some of the behaviour in the public gallery was "disgusting", while Cr Shaw said he would be asking for "stronger powers when dealing with unruly people at meetings."
In her video, Cr Power said the council had discussed the issue as a group and would not be tolerating such behaviour. Endorsing Cr Power's video statement, Cr Shaw said he would be introducing new "house rules" in January.
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Cr Power said today: "The issue was discussed and there was consensus around the issue. No formal decisions were made. Mayor Ben Shaw gave me permission to 'speak freely' on the matter.
In Facebook posts and in readers' comments to the New Norfolk News, several people have challenged the councillors' description of the meeting. Businesswoman Marita Rose said on Facebook: "I didn’t witness bullying, I witnessed passionate disenchanted members of the valley, wanting answers and they often didn't get answers."
Former councillor and former council worker Chris Lester said in a comment to the New Norfolk News: "I was at the meeting and besides a lot of passion and some language I didn't think it was that bad", while businessman and former councillor Wayne Shoobridge said he was he was at the AGM and while there were some "upset and frustrated residents in attendance", he said "the accusations made by two of our councillors are just not true."
LISTEN FOR YOURSELF:
Council audio recording of the annual general meeting (sometime this morning (December 18), the council changed the link to the audio recording without explanation. The link here has now been updated).
It seems a number of councillors don;t understand the term "bullying", and use it as a pejorative to what should be called "disagreement" or "discussion". You can't bully someone unless you have power over them. People in the public gallery certainly do not have power over the council or it's members.
ReplyDeleteSo the three amigos, Power,Cosgrove and Shaw don't care to use proper procedure, it's not good enough folks.
ReplyDeleteThe one thing being lost in the discussion is that there were many people at the Agm who expressed their discontent with the council's performance over the previous year, those people were not acknowledge by the comments of those councillors who had their rant on social media. In your own words those people stated their case in "the right way".
ReplyDeleteThank you for supplying the link to listen. Observation a radio mic going round the room for folk asking questions might prove to be a good investment as part of a communication strategy.
ReplyDeleteTwo questions that might surface in terms of regulations/procedures Can a person who was not present at the meeting move or second the minutes? Can a rate payer ask Council in writing to have their apology tabled & recorded at the AGM ?