THE people of the Upper Hunter have spoken.
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A referendum during Saturday’s local government elections handed voters the chance to decide if they wanted to elect the mayor instead of local councillors.
The question was phrased: the Mayor of the Upper Hunter Shire Council is currently elected annually by the nine (9) Councillors. Do you want to change to the direct election of the Mayor by the voters of the Upper Hunter Shire Council, for a four (4) year term, with the number of Councillors (including the Mayor) remaining at nine (9)? Yes or No?
It was emphatically knocked back.
After almost 8000 votes were counted, 56.97 per cent selected ‘no’ to the proposed change.
This is believed to be the first time it has been defeated in NSW.
The outcome brought a sigh of relief to former councillor and local resident Peter Hodges.
“It would have possibly left future councils open to exploitation and taken away from councillors the opportunity to elect who they think should run council,” he said.
“I think taking that away is eating at your democratic process.”
Mr Hodges said the referendum caught him by surprise, but once he knew about it he wanted to become more involved.
He was concerned a popularly-elected mayor could have lessened the impact of genuine, community-minded councillors.
“In having a person there for four years, he or she could potentially be backed by an interest group that has a specific agenda,” he said.
“After spending 13 years on council myself with a mayor who was subjected to a regular review, I honestly believe that it is very important.
“If you took that away, you could have been in for trouble further down the track.
“Just imagine if they couldn’t get along with the general manager or other staff; it’s so important for council to all work together.”
Current mayor Wayne Bedggood said he was “surprised and relieved” at the outcome after making his position clear prior to voting.
“There were strong arguments for both methodologies, but my preference was for councillors to pick the mayor,” he said.
“So I’m fairly comfortable with the community’s response.”
The election of a mayor will be the first item on the agenda at the first meeting of the new council on September 26.
Nine councillors will each cast their vote.
This system has always been in place for the Upper Hunter and, with the decisive referendum result, the voters’ endorsement is in no doubt.