A Wyndham councillor has blamed declining community satisfaction on a “gutful” of scandals he says is “engulfing” the council.
Survey results seen by Star Weekly revealed ratings for council leadership and good governance had declined from a 6.77 rating in 2020/21 to 6.37 in 2021/22.
During a council meeting on Tuesday, May 24, Cr Josh Gilligan raised a notice of motion blaming the drop in satisfaction on the behaviour of fellow councillors.
“This council must accept responsibility for these failures, commit to proper training and not skirt away from doing our job to service the Wyndham community,” Cr Gilligan said in his notice.
The motion was seconded by Cr Mia Shaw, who said Cr Gilligan had summed up the issue well.
Before other councillors could speak, Cr Maynard reminded councillors to ensure their remarks were suitable.
Crs Jennie Barrera, Adele Hegedich, Robert Szatkowski, Susan McIntyre, Jasmine Hill. Sahana Ramesh and Cr Marcel Mahfoud spoke against the motion.
Cr Szatkowski said correspondence from Metropolis Research indicated that the fall in average satisfaction with governance and leadership was consistent with similar declines recorded across metropolitan Melbourne.
“[They] appeared to reflect largely a fatigue with government, as the community emerges from two years of the pandemic,“ Cr Szatkowski said.
“We did not find specific evidence of large scale community concern about governance-related issues with the City of Wyndham this year.“
“Month after month, council are delivering on issues that matter most to residents,“ he said.
Cr Mahfoud said he understood community satisfaction was important, but the notice of motion was “ridiculous”.
“The tirades, the abuse, the mocking of other councillors…it all comes from just one,” he said.
Wyndham resident Lisa Heinrichs said she watches all the council meetings and believes there’s an “issue of behaviour“ that needs to be addressed.
“Watching it, there’s clearly what wouldn’t be tolerated in any other work place, there’s clear bullying and intimidation that goes on in those council meetings,“ Ms Heinrichs said.
“I think there’s much needed room for improvement… but I think the majority of the council is there for the right reasons and want the best outcome for the city.“
Crs Barrera, Hegedich, Szatkowski, McIntyre, Hill, Ramesh, Mahfoud, and Cr Maynard voted against the notice of motion.
Crs Gilligan and Shaw voted for the motion and Cr Heather Marcus abstained.
The motion was subsequently lost.
