WHITTLESEA: Showdown looms for Council in crisis. Mayor vs CEO.
COMMENT
by Local Paper Editor Ash Long
A showdown looms when City of Whittlesea elected Mayor Cr Aidan McLindon is due to front Council CEO Craig Lloyd (pictured) at the scheduled municipal meeting at 6pm on Tuesday (March 18).
Who will be in charge here: the elected Mayor or the paid employee?
Mr Lloyd has banned Cr McLindon from being on the Council premises at South Morang. Mr Lloyd has instructed the Mayor that he may not speak in person or by phone wth Cr McLindon’s elected colleagues. Cr McLindon, on the other hand, is the elected Mayor, and none of his Mayoral powers under the Local Government Act have been rescinded.
As one observer has noted, it is a bit like Prime Minister Anthony Albanese being prevented by a government official from attending Federal Parliament. The official is set to come off second-best. Their position becomes untenable; the employee has little option but to resign.
Meanwhile, Mr Lloyd has flagged that his health and wellbeing have been affected by contact with Cr McLindon. Will Mr Lloyd seek financial compensation (from citizen’s funds) for the hurt he claims to have suffered?
A number of local government observers say they are gobsmacked by Mr Lloyd’s actions against Cr McLindon. They believe Mr Lloyd has significantly over-stepped his authority by taking political sides. “As a CEO, you never get in the cage,” said one local government veteran.
Matters of dispute involving Cr McLindon are still before an independent arbiter. Observers question if Mr Lloyd has given Cr McLindon a full presumption of innocence. They ask if the bans go against e a process of natural justice.
Next Tuesday (Mar. 18), Cr McLindon, accompanied by his lawyer Nicolas Karamouzis, is expected tp deliver a statement outside the Council chambers at 5.45pm, 15 minutes prior to the Council meeting. Insiders say that Cr McLindon is then likely to attempt to take his place as Chairman of the Council meeting.
Although the jurisdictions are different, the situation has some similarities to the 1975 showdown between Prime Minister Gough Whitlam and Governor-General Sir John Kerr. Who will move first? Will Mr Lloyd attempt to have Cr McLindon removed by Security or Police from the Council Chamber? Will the Mayor, as Chairman of the meeting, attempt to have Mr Lloyd (if he attends) removed?
Both men are likely to have prior discussions with Police about the situation. Does the Mayor, as Chairman of the meeting, have the upper hand?
Will there be applications in the meantime for Persona; Safety Intervention Orders? Will the other Councillors walk out? Or will the other 10 Councillors bring on a motion to have Cr McLindon removed as Mayor?
TV reporters are likely to want to be there, with cameras, to cover these extraordinary political events. Cr McLindon is playing for his poltical life. Mr Lloyd appears to be gambling with his lucrative local government career. There are many ‘wild cards’ still to be played in this bizarre local government episode.