An attempt by Moree Plains Shire Councillor Kelly James to move a motion of no confidence in Mayor Susannah Pearse has spectacularly failed, with her vote the only one in support of the motion, in a meeting that unspectacularly revealed that the next acting GM of the Council is an award winning star financial manager fresh from delivering amazing results for Coffs Harbour.
James’ motion of no confidence centred solely around the management of the position of the general manager, Kelvin Tytherleigh, and his decision to resign and the mutual decision to terminate his contract.
Cr Fred McGrady, who had signed the original motion of James as seconder, withdrew his support for the motion prior to the meeting. McGrady told New England Times he originally understood the motion to be about transparency, but the motion had “gone from a matter of transparency which was my intentions, to a personal, vindictive, battle”. He said he would abstain on any further such motions.
Former leaders weigh in
Former Mayor Katrina Humphries spoke in support of the motion in the public forum section of the meeting on the basis that the “ongoing merry-co-round” of General Mayors contributed to an undermining of credibility of the Shire, and she was very concerned about the ongoing cost of recruitment for the general manager’s role. Presumably knowing that McGrady had withdrawn his support for the motion, she made a point that any councillor could second the motion without supporting it, to enable debate and the democratic process to take place.
Col Pring, another former council member, also spoke to the motion of no confidence, saying he was also concerned about the cost and staff morale. Pring also called for better transparency about what happened, saying that Councillors may have more information that the public, which should be shared. He also thanked Kelvin Tytherleigh for his contribution.
“You may not have been the yes man, but you were the right man,” Mr Pring said.
Mayor Pearse responded, reminding those present that the Council had only been in place for eight weeks, and for new councillors in particular, the experience of Council during these first two months “has been incredibly challenging”.
“I loved coming in to these chambers, this was the best part of my job,” she said.
“Whether you agreed with people or not, we were all united in working towards the betterment of our shire.”
“Unfortunately, in the last eight weeks, that hasn’t always been the case within these four walls.”
Responding directly to Mr Pring’s call for councillors to divulge what they knew to the public, Mayor Pearse said that former councillors should understand that matters that are confidential and discussed in closed sessions cannot be divulged, and to do so would be a breach of the code of conduct.
“I completely understand your desire for completely transparency.”
“However, because there are confidential matters, there are some things that we will never be able to fully disclose to you, and I ask for your respect both of Council and of Mr Tytherleigh in these discussions.”
A third former councillor Murray Hartman also spoke to the motion, calling for Mayor Pearse to go to ensure that the staff recruited by Tytherleigh were retained, and saying he did not believe Mr Tytherleigh had resigned. Deputy Mayor Wayne Tighe spoke in response to Mr Hartmann in strong defence of the Mayor, and refuting Hartmann’s criticisms.
“Kelvin was one of the people who asked me to run and I ran because of Kelvin,” Tighe said.
“But you voted for us, you need to give us a chance. Don’t just come in here and throw stones, give us a chance to work it out.”
“Thank you Murray, but my support is with the Mayor,” he said.
The motion is so put
After an interval of ordinary business, including an impassioned thank you to Mr Tytherleigh, James put her motion by reading a monologue that had little substance and a number of motherhood statements about the need for transparency or better leadership.
At the beginning of the speech, James attributed her “actions at the last meeting” to her “passion for the community”. That passion, the minutes of the December 5 meeting reveal, resulted in an extraordinary series of actions disrupting the meeting for well over an hour, starting with a series of requests to apologise being refused, her expulsion from the meeting, her refusal to leave, then leaving but returning, Cr Cassells then walking out, a further request for Cr James to leave which she refused, and eventually police being called. As the disruption happened in the closed part of the Council meeting, there is no audio available to check the minutes against.
At the end of the motion of no confidence James stated she would not be standing as mayor but would suggest that an interim mayor be appointed until February. James did stand against Pearse for Mayor in October weeks ago and lost.
No councillor initially seconded the motion of no confidence, but Cr Brooke Sauer, following the call of former mayor Katrina Humphries, seconded the motion by specifying it was only “in the interest of democracy and debate”.
The vote fails
Mayor Pearse wanted to brief the council in closed session to provide further information on the General Manager’s contract, which as a confidential matter could not be discussed in open chambers. James tried to prevent that, but as the tone of the back and forth between Pearse and James descended, Mr Tytherleigh interjected to shut James down, saying the motion to move into closed council must be considered first.
When the Council returned to open session, Deputy Mayor Tighe took over as chair, and Pearse left the room. James spoke to the motion by asking Tytherleigh to change his mind and withdraw his resignation. Sauer, as the seconder, spoke against the motion, reiterating that she seconded the motion to enable the merits of the motion to be transparently debated.
“Mr Tytherleigh has been an extraordinary general manager,” she said. “He has been incredible for this organisation, he has incredible for this town.”
“However it is by mutual agreement that Mr Tytherleigh would like to depart from Council, and we must respect that decision.
“The Mayor has always been consistently transparent about the handling of the GM’s request for the resignation.”
“There is no evidence that the Mayor has been anything but transparent and acting with integrity.”
No other councillor was willing to speak for the motion of no confidence, so the vote was put. Only James voted for the motion. Cr McGrady abstained as he said would, all other councillors voted against the motion.
Moving forward
After a short break, Mayor Pearse resumed as chair and got back on with business, making a series of decisions on tourism performance indicators, a new approvals policy, upgrades to the community halls in Garah and Boomi, sales of land at Moree Gateway, redevelopment of the Aquatic Centre, and noting a budget in surplus, $14m improvement in Council’s debt position and a healthy unrestricted cash position despite the burden of ongoing flood repair works.
The minutes of the marathon length meeting have not yet been published Council’s website at the time of publishing. However, the audio of the meeting ended with noting resolutions for the appointment of Director of Planning and Development Daryl Fitzgerald as interim general manager over the break, and the appointment of Natalia Cowley, the former General Manager of Coffs Harbour Council, as the acting General Manager for MPSC for six months from January while the proper recruitment process takes place for a permanent GM.
The attraction of Cowley is a significant boon for Moree Plains. The former chief financial officer for Muswellbrook and Central Coast councils prior to joining Coffs Harbour, and qualified chartered accountant, is highly respected for her financial acumen and inspirational and agile leadership. She was recently awarded the Outstanding Contribution to the Public Sector Award from the Institute of Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand.
After taking the City of Coffs Harbour’s finances from $9.5 million in the red to $15.7 million in the black in barely two years, Cowley will no doubt continue the impassioned work towards fiscal health that has been the drumbeat of Council under Mr Tytherleigh’s term.
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