By NATALIE GALLENTI
MELTON City Council mayor Kathy Majdlik has remained defiant amid calls for her to stand down after it was revealed she is the subject of an investigation by the Local Government Investigations and Compliance Inspectorate.
Cr Majdlik’s vow to remain the city’s mayor came at last week’s rowdy council meeting and on the same day as Star reported an investigation into Melton City Council’s 2012 election was underway after the Local Government Inspectorate received a serious complaint surrounding the distribution of preferences.
At last week’s meeting, councillors, and in particular the mayor, came under fire from angry gallery members who called for them to stand down.
In a short statement to the gallery, Cr Majdlik said she “strenuously denied the allegations” and would “comply fully with the inspectorate”.
Cr Majdlik said she believed it would only be a matter of weeks before the outcome of the investigation was complete and she would not stand down in the interim.
Her defiant speech was almost inaudible as many members of the gallery heckled her and refused to remove themselves from the council chambers.
In what has become customary for Melton City Council meetings this year, police were called to remove unruly residents and the meeting was adjourned, during which time the same members of the gallery donned masks and posed for photographs on the mayoral table.
When councillors returned to the chambers the heckling continued and the meeting was eventually suspended.
This was not the first time a council meeting was suspended. Last year’s final meeting was eventually abandoned after the same group disrupted the meeting and police were called in, while the majority of meetings this year have been adjourned during public question time.
In the wake of this latest incident Western Metropolitan Region MP Bernie Finn said he would be keeping a “close eye” on future council meetings.
Mr Finn said the responsibility of local government is to serve its residents and “if that’s not happening we (the State Government) would have to step in”.
“I don’t support disruptive behaviour,” Mr Finn told Star.
“It seems to me that if people are going out of their way to disrupt meetings, then they should be banned from the chambers … but if they have genuine grievances there are different avenues to have them aired.
“If I was in the mayoral robes, I would have them banned.”
Mr Finn said the behaviour of residents could only be considered counter-productive to their cause and he would be “watching closely” the outcome of future meetings.
