Katherine Town Council is issued an extraordinary call for unity among its own for healing in the wake of the splintering deputy mayoral vote.
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Council issued a statement this afternoon saying it was "aware of the recent negative comments regarding the fracturing of council and the elected members".
"We want to reassure the community that we are taking this seriously."
This is the fallout of the vote to change a leadership policy on April 28 of promote Peter Gazey to the deputy mayor's position and snub Matt Hurley and John Zelley from taking up the role as had been previously agreed.
Mayor Fay Miller had revealed at that meeting she was suffering a serious illness and needed an experienced back-up.
There have been community calls over the past week for Mayor Miller to consider standing down.
The council had a second meeting on Tuesday night together with the CEO Ian Bodill, on to discuss the way forward for council.
"The main focus was on improving the organisational culture, consolidate as a team and to focus on completing the many projects that have formed a bottleneck due to a variety of reasons," Mayor Miller said.
Council has sought the advice of Dr Felicity Lewis, a former Mayor of Marion in South Australia and past President of the Australian Local Government Association to "assist and provide knowledge with the confirmation of roles and responsibilities of Elected Members and strengthening their relationships with staff and the Katherine community".
Mayor Miller said the Tuesday decision demonstrated the aldermen wanted to work together as a united team.
"Each member has made a positive contribution towards lifting our sights and focussing on our strategic planning," she said.
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"Council believes we owe it to our community to show greater unity, and there was agreement from 6 of the 7 elected members to do just that."
She said Alderman Matt Hurley declined to support the decisions made on Tuesday night.
Alderman Hurley is taking legal action against the council claiming he has been discriminated against at being refused the deputy mayor's role.
"There will always be occasions where elected Members will disagree individually on some matters, but the important thing is to respect the final decision of council," Mayor Miller said.
She said council's senior officers and elected members will utilise the services of Dr Felicity Lewis to "build the team into a cohesive working relationship serving our ratepayers".
"We expect to be open and transparent at all times and let the Katherine community know how we are going to fix matters.
"Constructive and collaborative discussions with the community is paramount. We look forward to making ourselves more available for discussions and questions once COVID-19 quarantine period is behind us."
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