Three councillors kept their 100 per cent attendance rate for their entire tenure before the administrator took over Central Coast Council on October 30.
They were now-suspended councillors Jane Smith, Kyle MacGregor, and Louise Greenaway.
The last meeting run with councillors in attendance and chaired by Mayor, Lisa Matthews, was held on October 26, 2020.
At that meeting the resignations of Troy Marquart and Rebecca Gale were tabled and accepted.
In total, the council held 61 ordinary meetings and 12 extraordinary meetings since the term began in September 2017.
A total of 18 meetings were held via zoom in 2020 due to the pandemic rules.
And then the Administrator Dick Persson took over on October 30 and immediately began to hold the meetings in person at the chambers at Wyong (except for his extraordinary meeting on November 11 which lasted less than half an hour. But that’s another story).
This post is to tidy up what is possibly the final attendance records of our now suspended councillors. And the two councillors who resigned before they were suspended.
Now-former Liberal councillor Tory Marquart remained top of the list with 20 absences. He missed six meetings early in his term after suffering an accident.
Now-former Liberal councillor Rebecca Gale was next with 14 absences.
Third was suspended Liberal councillor Chris Burke with 12 absences.
Below are the figures, ordered by ward.
Gosford West Ward
Troy Marquart, Lib: absent: 20
- Missed November 2017 meeting due to a medical emergency.
- Apology: January 29 meeting due to medical issues.
- Applied for leave of absence via Cr Chris Burke on February 12, 2018.
- Feb 26, 2018
- March 12, 2018
- March 26, 2018 (Returned April 9 meeting from medical leave.)
- April 11, 2018 Extraordinary meeting.
- September 10, 2018
- February 25, 2019
- July 22, 2019
- September 25, 2019
- October 8, 2019
- June 9, 2020 (remote meeting)
- June 29, 2020 Extraordinary meeting, remote
- July 13, 2020 (remote meeting)
- July 20, 2020 Extraordinary meeting, remote
- July 27, 2020 meeting, remote
- October 20, 2020 Extraordinary meeting, remote
- October 21, 2020 Extraordinary meeting, remote
- October 26, 2020 extraordinary meeting: written resignation accepted
Chris Holstein, Ind: absent: 7
- May 14, 2018
- August 27, 2018
- October 8, 2018
- July 8, 2019
- August 12. 2019 Medical Leave
- September 9, 2019
- February 24, 2020
Richards Mehrtens, ALP: absent: 4
- July 23, 2018
- November 26, 2108
- May 27, 2019
- November 11, 2019
Gosford East Ward
Jane Smith (Mayor until Sept 2019, then deputy), Ind: 100 per cent
Has attended all council meetings
Rebecca Gale, Lib: absent: 14
- January 29 meeting, 2019
- April 8 meeting, 2019
- July 8, 2019
- August 12, 2019
- October 8, 2019
- November 11, 2019
- December 16, 2019 Extraordinary meeting
- February 10, 2020
- February 24, 2020
- March 23, 2020 extraordinary meeting
- June 9, 2020 (remote meeting)
- June 22, 2020 (remote meeting)
- September 28, 2020 ordinary meeting
- October 26, 2020 ordinary meeting: written resignation accepted.
Jeff Sundstrom, ALP: absent: 1. March 11, 2019
The Entrance Ward
Lisa Matthews, (Mayor from September 2019) ALP: absent: 6
- December 7, 2017
- June 25, 2018
- July 23, 2018
- September 10, 2018
- February 25, 2019
- August 10, 2020 (remote meeting)
Jilly Pilon, Lib: absent: 7
- June 25, 2018
- September 10, 2018
- November 26, 2018
- July 8, 2019
- March 23, 2020 extraordinary meeting
- June 22, 2020 (remote meeting)
- June 29, 2020 extraordinary meeting, remote
- September 14, 2020 ordinary meeting, remote
Bruce McLachlan, Ind: 2
- November 25, 2019
- March 23, 2020 extraordinary meeting
Wyong Ward
Kyle MacGregor, ALP: 100 per cent. Attended all meetings.
Louise Greenaway, Ind: 100 per cent. Attended all meetings.
Chris Burke, Lib: absent: 12
- April 9, 2018.
- July 9, 2018
- July 23. 2018
- September 10, 2018
- November 26, 2018 (Medical leave)
- December 10, 2018 (Medical leave)
- March 25, 2019
- June 11, 2019
- October 28, 2019
- November 11, 2019
- February 10, 2020
- September 14, 2020 Ordinary meeting, remote
Budgewoi Ward
Doug Vincent, ALP: absent: 10
- January 15. 2018
- April 11, 2018, extraordinary meeting.
- April 23, 2018
- November 12, 2018
- February 11, 2019
- February 25, 2019
- July 8, 2019
- November 25, 2019
- March 23, 2020, extraordinary meeting.
- June 29, 2020, extraordinary meeting, remote
- October 19, 2020, extraordinary meeting, remote
Jillian Hogan, ALP: absent: 4
- October 23, 2017.
- December 7, 2017.
- January 29, 2018.
- August 27, 2018.
Greg Best, Ind: absent: 6
- October 23, 2017.
- August 27, 2018.
- April 29, 2019.
- May 13, 2019.
- March 23, 2020 extraordinary meeting.
- September 28, 2020.
The data
The first meeting of the Central Coast Council was the extraordinary meeting held on September 25, 2017 where the mayor and the deputy mayor were elected.
The council with councillors held:
extraordinary meetings: 12 (Last one October 21: 2020)
ordinary meetings: 61 (Last one October 26, 2020)
The May 28, 2018, meeting extended to June 4 and June 4 isn’t counted as a new meeting.
The March 23, 2020, ordinary meeting was replaced with an extraordinary meeting with a smaller agenda and social distancing rules saw the public excluded from the gallery. I was there as a media representative.
The first remote meeting was held on April 27, 2020.
The CEO Gary Murphy attended his first meeting on July 9, 2018.
His latest meeting, so far, was September 28, 2020.
First new Governance Director Evan Hutchings attended his first meeting on April 29, 2019.
The next new Governance Director Dr Liz Devlin attended her first meeting on September 9, 2019 and her last meeting on March 9, 2020.
Shane Sullivan has been called unit manager of governance since then.
The current CFO Natalia Cowley attended her first meeting after the councillors had been suspended.
Central Coast Council Watch was started by me, retired journalist Merilyn Vale, when the councillors were elected in 2017.
I upload Facebook accounts of each meeting. I began in the hope that those posts would form a database for voters to use to assess the councillors’ contributions before the elections which were earmarked for September 2020.
Then the elections were postponed to September 2021 elections.
And then State Minister for Local Government Minister Shelley Hancock suspended the councillors.
Now, I’m still watching the meetings but…..goodness knows why!
Updated November 14, 2020. Copyright: Merilyn Vale
