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GRANT District Mayor Richard Sage’s voice has been ‘silenced’ after elected members took an extraordinary step to remove him as the principal spokesperson of the organisation at an explosive special meeting on Tuesday night.
A motion put forward by deputy mayor Gill Clayfield will see elected members act as the principal spokesperson of council depending on the members’ individual skills, knowledge and background.
The selection of a spokesperson will be determined by the chief executive officer, the motion states.
Another recommendation within the motion will see Mr Sage’s private use of his council-owned vehicle removed from his allowances, restricting use of the vehicle to attend council matters only.
The conditional motion states the changes will be revisited after two months and depending on the outcome, they may be changed.
The motion received a unanimous vote from councillors, who expressed displeasure with Mr Sage’s ongoing behaviour since the council’s landmark cultural review.
Councillors urged Mr Sage to abide by the Charter of Agreed Behaviours, which he has breached three times since the policy was voted in by council in late June.
“If you consider, you have actually all signed up to the code, I cannot agree to it and I have not agreed to it,” Mr Sage responded.
However, Cr Clayfield told Mr Sage he had no choice.
“We voted and as part of the elected members you have no choice,” Cr Clayfield said.
“No one voted against the charter, so no one has got a choice, that is the behavioural code that we all have to follow.”
Acting chief executive Jane Fetherstonhaugh cited the Code of Conduct for Council Members, which stated Mr Sage must comply with all council policies.
“It is in council’s code of conduct, which is legislated that responsibilities of the council member is they comply with all council policies, codes and resolutions,” Ms Fetherstonhaugh said.
Cr Clayfield outlined the first breach of the policy involving Mr Sage’s remarks on Triple M radio where he made statements which did not represent the council’s view.
According to the charter, no elected member of staff will provide commentary to media outside of a discussed and agreed position on key strategic matters.
Cr Shirley Little heard the interview and said Mr Sage stated he was representing himself at the start of the interview, however all key talking points related to the council.
“If you were there as Richard Sage, I thought you would be talking about Richard Sage, but everything you were talking about was to do directly with the council,” Cr Little said.
Cr Megan Dukalskis agreed it was a clear conflict.
“You cannot be the mayor and say you are not going to talk about council matters, then say you are going to be yourself and then agree to talk about council matters – it’s the same person,” she said.
But Mr Sage argued he was allowed to have his opinion.
“I’m allowed to have my opinion, is that correct or not?” Mr Sage said.
“No,” Cr Dukalskis responded.
“Well we are not going to agree on that one then,” Mr Sage said.
The second breach of the cultural charter related to a Landline interview with the mayor at the saleyards with the Beef Ledger Crew, which had not been previously discussed with council.
A number of issues were raised in Cr Clayfield’s report regarding the interview, including discussion around roofing at the location and other matters along the lines of the future of the saleyards.
“Who were you representing?” Cr Clayfield said.
“Not council as we have no set opinion on roofing at the saleyards.”
Mr Sage said he was only notified about going to the saleyards by Landline the day before and assumed it had been organised with council as part of the Beef Ledger Project.
“As far as I was aware I thought it had already been approved and I was just there doing what I had been asked to do,” he said.
The interview was not pre-planned and involved no induction to the site, with agents at the saleyards “not happy” with the filming taking place while stock was being moved.
“I apologise that’s the way it turned out, but I thought I was doing the right thing,” Mr Sage said.
Cr Jody Elliot said the issue stemmed from the fact Mr Sage did not correctly fill out his mayoral diary, which accounted for the third breach of the charter.
According to the charter, all mayoral appointments events and meetings are to be shared with the executive assistant and logged in the mayoral calendar.
The interviews with Landline and Triple M were not placed in the diary.
“Nothing is in your diary, so therefore there is absolutely no visibility from the back-end perspective and this repeatedly occurs where it trips us up,” Cr Elliot said.
“I have repeatedly said I do not understand why you will not complete your diary because at the end of the day it only protects you from this sort of thing happening.
“It’s also systematic of the fact there is no relationship between you and the staff.”
Cr Clayfield said Mr Sage needed to agree to do his diary by committing to the Charter of Agreed Behaviours.
“You say okay, but you said that two weeks ago and none of this has been in your diary, so it has to be more than okay, it has to be a commitment to agreeing to the charter,” she said.
But Mr Sage continued in his defiance, stating that he would not agree to the cultural charter.
“I have already told you, I’m not agreeing to it,” he said.
