CASEY: Police guard for Councillors
Last week’s Casey Council meeting had to be adjourned after crowd responses were deemed to be unsafe for Councillors.
Police were called to the Council headquarters to escort Councillors safely from the premises.
Mayor Cr Stefan Koomen (pictured) said: “I want to say that I am incredibly disappointed with the behaviour displayed at the Council Meeting last night. This behaviour is not welcome and will not be tolerated.”
“We had a number of residents attending the meeting in good faith, expecting to hear a response to their questions.
“Unfortunately they, along with our staff and my fellow councillors, were subjected to threatening behaviour.
“The wellbeing and safety of community and staff attending our meetings is our top priority. The situation escalated to a point where the police had to be called due to the actions of some individuals in the gallery.”
Casey Mayor Cr Stean Koomen said that he understood there is a real frustration over the past five years under Administration.
“The new Councillors acknowledge this and we’re looking forward to listening and representing our community.”
He said that the behaviour by some individuals at last week’s Council meeting is not the way to go about this.
“I’d like to thank all the members of the Casey community who have reached out to me and my fellow councillors with messages of support.
The next Council meeting is scheduled for 6pm on Tuesday March 18, at Bunjil Place.
“The agenda items that were unable to be resolved at the February Council Meeting will be moved to be included in the agenda of the March Council Meeting,” said a Council representative.
“We have received some questions around if we will be changing the time and location of our Council Meetings.
“At the December 2024 Council Meeting, Councillors endorsed the schedule of dates and times for Council Meetings for the year.
“This means Council Meetings will continue to run at 6pm every third Tuesday on the month,” the Council representative said.