Mayor Kylie Webster welcomed new interim general manager Brett Kelly to Kyogle Council today, Tuesday, December 12.

He has been appointed after the shock sacking of Graham Kennett yesterday.

But council staff are not welcoming this sudden change in leadership.

Staff issued a statement through the United Services Union rep.

Kyogle Council staff have unanimously passed a vote of no confidence in the mayor and councillors Tom Cooper, Rob Cullen, Maggie May and James Murray after the five councillors conspired to terminate the council’s general manager without notice under the no fault provisions of his contract at last night’s Council meeting.

Council staff gathered at the Kyogle Depot and Administration Office this morning after they heard about the decision to sack Mr Kennett – who has been with Kyogle Council for almost 25 years.

The decision to terminate the general manager comes after he had passed a performance review and the audited financial statements showed the council to be in a strong financial position, the union rep’s statement said.

“After there were several breaches of the Code of Conduct by councillors, including two formal censures of councillors Cooper and Murray, the staff are calling for a public enquiry into the decision making process and the lack of transparency from the mayor and these councillors.

“The community deserves to know why these councillors thought it was acceptable to spend over $330,000 of ratepayers’ money to get rid of a perfectly good general manager.”

This article appeared on indyNR.com on 12 December 2023.

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