The Mayor of Ballina, Sharon Cadwallader, has responded to her fellow councillor Jeff Johnson’s comments in The Echo this morning, using some equally piquant language.
‘It’s quite sad to see one of my fellow councillors attack our highly respected council and calling for it it to be sacked, just because the Greens Party didn’t get their desired outcome on a couple of issues,’ she said. (Note: Jeff Johnson is not actually a Green, but an independent).
‘In my almost two decades serving on Ballina Shire Council, I’ve seen mayors use their casting votes many times, but I’ve never witnessed a councillor who didn’t get his way behaving in such a petulant manner and bringing the organisation he serves into such disrepute,’ continues Mayor Cadwallader.
‘On the Conservation Zones, Councillor Eva Ramsey led the move to try and get an outcome for Ballina Shire that reflected the successful approach taken by Lismore City Council.
‘That approach recognises that conservation on private land works best when it is done cooperatively. The Lismore Scheme was devised by former Greens Mayor Vanessa Ekins and has been accepted by the NSW Government.
‘That doesn’t mean that Ballina Shire will be abandoning Conservation Zones or won’t have the power to impose them where the need arises, as we did in a unanimous decision on the controversial Burns Point Fery Road site.
‘I make no apology for using my casting vote to get an outcome that supports our landowners, farmers and koala champion and threatened species conservation ecologist Maria Matthes who was awarded Ballina Shire’s 2021 Environmental Award and 2022 Ballina Shire Citizen of the Year. As Maria said in her deputation to council “this IS about conservation, not about conservation zones.”
‘Why wouldn’t I use my casting vote that reduces costs to ratepayers, protects food security and encourages conservation?’
Ward boundaries issue
‘On the ward boundaries, Councillor Bruem led this reform to remove confusion and better comply with the requirements of the NSW Electoral Commission,’ says Mayor Cadwallader.
‘It’s unfortunate that Cr Johnson believes this decision to change the boundaries will disadvantage him as a Cumbalum resident, however the rules are not made to advantage or disadvantage any councillor.
‘Contrary to claims made by the Greens and often repeated by The Echo, the independent councillors elected on my ticket at the last election act independently and vote independently. The voting record shows this. They are not part of a party or a voting bloc. None are members of a political party and the majority never have been.
‘Only three (Bruem, Ramsey and Buchanan) of the nine serving councillors were elected with my direct support, so it is a nonsense to suggest there is a dominant “Cadwallader” bloc. Those councillors only win debates by putting forward good policies and reflecting what the community wants. Ultimately, they need to gain the support of the majority in the chamber.
‘They did on these two issues, gaining the support of Councillor Johnston on the C Zones and Councillor McCarthy on the boundary reforms. That is how councils are meant to work and that is how Ballina Council works. For Councillor Jeff Johnson to pretend otherwise is ridiculous.
‘I hope to support more independent councillors at the next election and will do so based on what they contribute to the community. This stands in stark contrast to the Greens voting bloc, who always votes as a bloc and only seems interested in playing politics, at the most despicable and personal level.’
So ends Mayor Cadwallader’s missive.
Blocs
As for ‘the ‘Greens voting bloc’, it can be seen from the Echo‘s reporting of Ballina Council over the last few years that the two current Greens councillors, Simon Chate and Kiri Dicker, do not always vote together on issues, though they usually do, as would be expected.
The independent Cr Jeff Johnson does not always vote with them, although he is often aligned with Green positions.
As for the independence of other councillors, party memberships are not always known, but independence can be a slippery and changing concept. Ballina’s independent Cr Rod Bruem, for example, has stood as a Nationals candidate in the past and until recently was media adviser to local federal Nationals representative Kevin Hogan, according to his own LinkedIn page.
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