Should the mayor be elected by the people or councillors?
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Goulburn Mulwaree voters could ponder this very question if a recommendation to Tuesday night's council meeting is adopted.
General manager Warwick Bennett is recommending that a constitutional referendum be put to the 2024 election asking people which method they prefer.
READ MORE:
If voters choose popular election, it will be implemented at the 2028 poll.
Mr Bennett said he was asked to compile the report after discussion with the mayor. Current mayor Peter Walker told The Post he did not request it but the matter had been loosely discussed at a briefing session after his January election to the top job.
He would not be drawn on whether he preferred the people to select the council leader or councillors.
"I have no opinion one way or the other...Neither worry me," he said.
"I will speak about it on Tuesday night and I have no doubt the other eight councillors will as well."
It's not the first time the question has arisen.
In the early 2000s, a referendum put to Goulburn City Council voters decided the people should elect the mayor. However the 2004 amalgamation with Mulwaree Shire put paid to the idea. Shire voters had not had a similar referendum and so councillors continued to choose their leader.
In his report, Mr Bennett said the Local Government Act allowed for both methods. If voters decided they wanted to popularly elect the mayor, it would be introduced at the subsequent poll (2028) and could only be rescinded by another referendum.
In order to save money, the constitutional referendum would be put to voters at the September, 2024 council elections. If put separately, it would cost an estimated $200,000.
Two ballot papers would be put to the electorate - one to choose the nine councillors and another to select the mayor from a list of those who had nominated.
Mr Bennett said he'd had experience with both mayoral selection methods.
"There are lots of arguments for and against," he said.
The advantages of popular election were that the leader was "the people's choice" and it supported the democratic principle of "improved representation."
ALSO READ: Appeal for information after bicyclist dies
But if councillors chose, they had input into the person they felt was best placed to lead them. On the flipside, if they proved a "failure" they could not remove that person for four years, Mr Bennett said.
Whether the councillor with the most votes should become the mayor became an issue at the January mayoral contest.
Cr Bob Kirk argued that he had topped the poll and had done "nothing to blot his copy book" when he made his pitch for the top job. His vote had increased by 23 per cent on 2016 and he pointed out that the other nominee, Cr Walker's votes had "gone backwards."
"...I don't get it but I accept it," he said after he lost the mayoralty.
But he said at the time he was never an advocate of a popularly elected mayor.
For his part, Cr Walker said he had every right to stand for the role, given it was "within the rules."
On Friday, Cr Kirk said many people had commented to him after the December council election that they thought they were electing the mayor as well.
"I told them it's not how it works," he said.
"I didn't ask for the report but it seems to be a fair question. Let's give people a chance to have a say - there's no harm done."
Cr Kirk said he previously had the matter on his long list of items for future discussion but it had never progressed. He told The Post that while popular election would have benefited him at the last poll, he was not a strong advocate.
Cr Kirk maintained that a candidate promising big things could sway voters into supporting him or her as mayor but might not be able to deliver.
"I'm not really convinced one way or the other," he said.
"...Whatever happens at the referendum in 2024 it will be no benefit to me. I'll be nearly 80 by the time it's implemented and who would want to elect an old fart like me?"
Do you have something to say about this issue? Send a letter to the editor. Click here for the Goulburn Post
Did you know the Goulburn Post is now offering breaking news alerts and a weekly email newsletter? Keep up-to-date with all the local news: sign up below.