By Kyra Gillespie
Scathing revelations from shunned mayor-hopeful Cr Leticia Wilmot during her election nomination speech shed an unflattering light on the inner-workings of Cardinia council at the annual statutory meeting on Monday 12 November.
Toppled from the mayoral race six votes short, the defeated Ranges Ward councillor’s cutting speech lifted the curtain on council’s internal culture and exposed “rifts” between councillors.
“I know there are members of this council who feel they haven’t had enough support over the last few years and feel unsure or uncertain in their role,” Cr Wilmot said.
“We are now at the halfway mark of this term as council; we should take the opportunity to reassess ourselves. During my discussions with other councillors in the weeks leading up to tonight it became apparent that I wasn’t the only councillor who felt that there is division or a rift occurring within the group.
“At times the tension in this room has been unbearable and emotions have taken over through discussions and behaviours have slipped. We need to bring respect for each other’s opinions back into the discussions.”
She said meeting conduct and professionalism in the council chambers had slipped.
“A refresh of the meeting procedures and the meeting conduct is another area I would be keen to implement as soon as possible; now that the meetings are being live streamed it is important that the meetings be conducted in a professional manner and that we are seen as a group of elected representatives who take the responsibility of decision-making seriously.
“Some of the public like to criticise us and accuse us of not knowing what we are doing, so I think it is important that we are following the correct procedure to dispel this commentary.”
She described herself as a “strong, confident woman” unafraid of taking on a challenge.
In a not-so-subtle dig at one of her predecessors, Cr Wilmot claimed that if elected, she would not run off-script and become “irrelevant.”
The comment sparked smirks between councillors across the chambers.
“I know the importance of sticking to script and not running the risk of going off-point and becoming irrelevant,” she said.
“These are just some of the ideas that I have that will hopefully improve the last two years of this council’s term for us as a group and as individual councillors.”
One of three Ranges Ward councillor, Cr Wilmot held the position of Mayor for 2015-2016.
