Elsie Adamo
GRANT District Council has passed a vote of no confidence in council mayor Richard Sage in a meeting this week.
Cr Megan Dukalskis brought forward the extraordinary motion Monday night without notice, following what she said was a pattern of unprofessional behaviour.
Before discussion Mr Sage was asked to remove himself from the meeting, due to a conflict of interest in being present during the discussion and voting on the motion.
In his absence Mr Sage had requested Cr Gillian Clayfield chair the meeting.
Cr Dukalskis outlined a set of circumstances she said had led her to lose confidence in Mr Sage’s ability to fulfil his mayoral duties.
“I firmly believe that Mayor Richard Sage is failing in his role,” Cr Dukalskis said.
In a long list of grievances, Cr Dukalskis said Mr Sage had failed to communicate with elected members, return calls or emails, be part of the team, be inclusive, inform elected members of public events or regularly meet with the CEO and Deputy Mayor.
Cr Dukalski also claimed Mr Sage had been telling misleading community members in order to obtain his desired outcomes.
“That is my motion, sadly,” Cr Dukalskis said after she finished outlining the motion.
Cr Clayfield as the chair declined to comment on the motion, before she called for a vote on the matter.
Cr Dukalskis’ motion of no confidence in Mr Sage was seconded by Cr Little and passed with support from Cr’s Kylie Boston, Bruce Bain and Barry Kuhl.
Cr’s Peter Duncan and Brad Mann voted against the motion.
The motion removes Richard Sage’s speaking rights to engage with media, politicians and the community on behalf of the council, until the end of his term.
After the motion passed Cr Dukalskis said “it gave me no joy to do this, but I came to the point I had to.”
Following the meeting, Mr Sage will still chair council meetings as the elected Mayor but will not be able to represent council publicly.
This is the second time Mr Sage has been subject to a vote of no confidence, after a previous council passed a similar motion in 2018.
Mr Sage declined to comment on the motion at this stage.
