You are currently viewing Maitland Council to vote whether to abolish the Deputy Mayor Position or vote a new Deputy

Maitland Council to vote whether to abolish the Deputy Mayor Position or vote a new Deputy

As Current Deputy Mayor Philip Penfolds term comes to end today, Maitland council will vote tonight, whether to abolish the Deputy Mayor position from the council or vote in a new Deputy Mayor.

The position of Deputy Mayor is not a requirement of the legislation, but instead is created at the discretion of the Council or alternatively, should the need arise.

Maitland Council will vote to determine whether or not it will elect a Deputy Mayor, if Council vote no than matter ends there and no Deputy will be elected.

However, if they vote to elect a deputy than Council will conduct an election of Deputy Mayor in accordance with the Local Government (General) Regulation 2005, Schedule 7.

Also, it’s worth mentioning there is no financial benefits for being Deputy Mayor, unless the Deputy Mayor has to step up into the Mayor position for unforeseen reasons.

We asked Councillor Mitchell Griffin if Maitland should have a Deputy Mayor and he said.

There has been precedence under our previous Mayor where there was a need for a Deputy Mayor to urgently step in. Saying this, our found our current Mayor delegated very little if at all during my term as Deputy Mayor. This was a shame as I was open to helping as much as possible, but found she would leave the city unrepresented than delegate to her Deputy Mayor. I do hope that whoever is elected this evening is able to have more opportunities in the role than previous Deputy Mayors under the current Mayor.

Cr Mitchell Griffin

Outgoing Deputy Mayor Penfold indicated to MHV NEWS he supported Henry Meskauskas to become new Deputy Mayor. He also posted a statement to his Facebook Page.

My term as Maitland’s Deputy Mayor draws to a close on Tuesday. I’ll continue to be available to you as your council representative and aim to step up in 2021 to achieve even more for #mymaitland.

Deputy Mayor Philip Penfold

We reached out to Mayor Baker, but she has not responded to our requests at the time of publishing this article.

We believe there might be up to three contenders for Deputy Mayor tonight.

    MHV NEWS

    MHV COMMUNITY NEWS