Maroondah Journal: Cr stripped of committee roles 'won't apologise'

The Maroondah Journal has reported on the events that transpired at the council meeting held on the 10th of December.

Councillors are appointed as delegates to council committees and these positions were decided at this council meeting. Unfortunately the committee positions, which were moved by Cr. Peter Gurr, completely excluded Cr. Jo-anne Taylor.

It is disappointing that Cr. Peter Gurr, has chosen to end the year with a personal attack on Cr. Jo-anne Taylor, despite the fact that she is an incredibly dedicated and community minded representative.

Cr. Alex Makin said it had been “nothing but a blatant personal attack on one councillor”. He said he wanted the committee list reviewed for the council’s first meeting next year.

While Cr. Taylor and Cr. Maureen Naylor and myself spoke against the motion proposed by Cr. Gurr, the exclusion of Cr. Taylor was unfortunately adopted with the support of Cr. Les Willmott (who also spoke in support Cr. Gurr’s motion), Cr. Natalie Thomas and the current mayor Cr. Tony Dib.

Given this blatant attack on Cr. Taylor, I have submitted Maroondah’s first ever notice to review to seek amendments to the following committee delegations:

• Maroondah Partners in Health, Safety and Well-being Committee
• Municipal Association of Victoria (MAV)
• Roadsafe – Melbourne Eastern Ranges Inc.
• Municipal Emergency Management Planning Committee
• Eastern Regional Housing Group

A notice to review has the potential to rescind a part of a council decision through having the matter re-heard at the next council meeting. This means that the positions on the aforementioned committees will be re-considered at the next council meeting which is to be held on the 18th of February.

“This hopefully gives an opportunity for some of the councillors to re-evaluate their behaviour and come in with a positive outlook”.

I trust that my council colleagues will choose to begin the new year with a positive approach and a desire to work with all of their colleagues. It is a shame that Cr. Gurr, a person that I have normally respected, has chosen to personally attack his colleagues rather than work constructively for the betterment of the Maroondah community. It is also surprising that Cr. Natalie Thomas has blindly decided to support the exclusion of Cr. Taylor, despite never actually speaking in favour of any motion in the open chamber.

Cr. Taylor regularly attended her delegated appointments and her specialised knowledge in areas such as emergency management means that she has a significant contribution to make within these committees and the wider community.

The community suffers while there is continued infighting in council. The notice to review to be held in February will determine whether some of my colleagues are on council for the right reasons.