Shoalhaven City Council's ordinary meeting was adjourned after just two of 47 matters were dealt with, at 6.30pm on Tuesday.
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Councillors voted to adjourn the meeting so that four of them were able to attend a Liberal Party function with visiting premier Gladys Berejiklian.
Mayor Amanda Findley and Labor councillor Annette Alldrick were livid at their colleagues Patricia White, Mitchell Pakes, Andrew Guile and Joanna Gash.
There was no formal notice given about the adjournment, only a polite heads up from Cr White to the mayor at 2pm on Tuesday.
More than a dozen community members sitting in the gallery were shocked by the abrupt finish - the matters they had come to see addressed had not been dealt with.
Cr Alldrick said the least they could have done is provide adequate notice.
"To have brought forward a pair of motions that were linked ahead of a bunch of other motions relative to the community that have come here tonight, I think is incredibly rude,” she said.
"When you run for this office you are committing to attending these meetings.
"They're prioritising their party agenda over the community.”
The staff brought out dinner, a spread of food for councillors, who in fact did not need to eat there because the meeting finished so early.
"Well that's not free, is it?" Cr Alldrick said.
"I think it's incredibly rude, the least they could have done is to put a motion together previously to flag this meeting tonight, and could we possibly reschedule, so everybody was aware of it.
"I think it's very disrespectful, not only to councillors, and to staff, but to members of the community who have come here tonight.
"Now they're disappointed, they're going to have to come home and possibly come back again.”
Cr Alldrick used the walk-out as an opportunity to highlight her colleagues’ leanings, which were not publicly disclosed upon their election to council.
"These councillors going to the Liberal meeting are Independent councillors [aside from Cr Gash], they haven't come out as loud and proud Liberal Party members,” Cr Alldrick said.
"I'm a Labor Party councillor, I ran on a Labor Party ticket, I am more than proud to be honest about that and have that out there on the table.”
The mayor did not hold back, given the opportunity to unleash about the walk out.
“They’ve made this council shut down on the business it had planned to do this evening,” Cr Findley said.
“It was completely unnecessary.
“Four people could have quietly left, gone and done their business together, but no, they forced everyone else to come back, get us out of our business routines, because many of us actually have other jobs, we need other jobs to be able to make ends meet.
“These people have walked out on their community.
“There’s pressing business to be done, council contracts to be signed, yet here we are with a crashed quorum and we cannot continue.”
The reconvened meeting will not be held until after Easter at least.
Now, matters, such as Hyams Beach solution, will be delayed.
Cr Mitchell Pakes defended his decision to leave
“I was invited there as the assistant deputy mayor,” he said.
“The mayor has called adjournments before, I’m not sure what the problem is here.
“I’m not a member of the Liberal Party, I take offence to the mayor’s comments.”
