Chris Hanna elected mayor of Snowy Monaro in chaotic council meeting

Chris Hanna was re-elected as mayor of the Snowy Monaro Regional Council amid cries of “point of order” and interruptions during a frequently chaotic first meeting for the new councillors.

Three new councillors and eight former councillors were elected in September’s local government election, followed by the resignation of CEO David Hogan earlier this week.

Chief strategy officer David Rawlings filled in as acting CEO when councillors held their first meeting on Thursday (10 October) and to elect the new mayor and deputy.

Newly elected Councillor Andrew Thaler started by calling a point of order and saying he didn’t accept Mr Rawlings’ authority to conduct the proceedings.

“We are not in a council meeting and you are not conducting this meeting,” Mr Rawlings said during the exchange.

The 11 councillors were sworn in and the meeting was opened before a chair was appointed. But Cr Thaler’s further interjections saw Mr Rawlings again respond: “You’re not running this meeting.”

“You’re not running it either, Mr Rawlings,” Cr Thaler said.

Another councillor added: “Show respect to the process, please.”

A member of the council gallery later called out: “You can’t have a meeting without a chair”.

Mr Rawlings again quieted the disruption.

A successful motion installed Councillor Bob Stewart, a former Bombala mayor, as chair to conduct the mayoral election. But newly elected Councillor Reuben Rose moved a motion to delay this election so councillors could learn more about each other.

“Councillor, you’ve got to follow procedure a little bit better than that,” Cr Stewart told Cr Thaler when the latter tried to second Cr Rose’s motion too early.

Councillor Narelle Davis said it was normal practice to elect a mayor as the first order of business in a council meeting.

Cr Rose claimed there was “tension” in the meeting room because “there was an attempt by council to unlawfully exclude an elected councillor”. But during the following exchange, several points of order were called and Cr Rose was told to stick to speaking about his motion, which was lost.

Cr Hanna was ultimately re-elected mayor and Tricia Hopkins, who ran with Cr Hanna in Group C during the election, was elected deputy mayor.

Cr Thaler later attempted to delay voting to set the dates and times of council meetings because he wanted the community to have its say.

“If we keep deferring everything, it’s going to be a long four years and we won’t be helping the community at all,” Cr Stewart said.

He said the dates and times could be changed later if needed.

Cr Thaler’s motion to delay the vote was lost and meetings were set for the third Thursday of each month, starting from 1 pm.

Meetings will be held in Cooma in the even months and rotate between Jindabyne and Bombala on the odd months.

The final blow-up during the meeting came from a motion that aimed to note Mr Hogan’s resignation and find an interim CEO while the recruitment process was undertaken.

Cr Thaler raised a point of order and said many councillors hadn’t received Mr Hogan’s resignation letter, then called for it to be handed over to them “before we move any further” to understand the context of his resignation.

Crs Rose and Luke Williamson also raised concerns about proceeding without seeing the letter before Cr Thaler’s further comments raised several cries of “point of order”.

Cr Hanna told Cr Thaler he had been informed “a number of times” that the letter was “personal” and warned Cr Rose: “I will stop you if you mention anything that is not on the motion.”

Labor’s Councillor Tanya Higgins said the contents of the letter were “none of our business” and because Mr Hogan had left, councillors had to fill his position.

The motion to note his resignation and begin the process to recruit a new CEO was carried. Crs Thaler, Williamson and Rose voting against the motion.

The meeting came to an end after almost two-and-a-half hours. The next meeting will be held in November.