Lismore City Council has lurched from bad to worse and it is time for the Local Government Minister to step in an appoint an administrator. The culture of the organisation is in serious chaos after the council s general manager, Shelley Oldham, was sacked on Tuesday night. In total, three councillors - including the mayor - and now the general manager have left the Titanic, in the past six or seven months. While the remaining councillors bravely play on and tell the general public to remain calm, this council is in serious crisis. We can t afford to wait until the results of the next election in September to sort this out.
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The name of the new Lismore mayor is a hot topic around the local area and now two prominent former councillors have weighed in with their views.
The election of the new mayor is set to be the main talking point at the upcoming council meeting on February 9.
Former mayor Isaac Smith retired from politics effective from February 1.
Mr Smith believes any of his former deputy mayors would be a good candidate to take over from him.
âThereâs some really good choices to be interim mayor until the elections later this year, any of the deputy mayors I have had over my term would do a fantastic job,â he said.
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Subscriber only It s still more than seven months before the next local government elections and Lismore City Council is disappearing before ratepayers eyes. Fire, flood, drought, COVID-19, crippling debt, claims of a lack of confidence in the council s leadership and the long period between elections has seen three councillors move on during this period. Isaac Smith s time as Lismore mayor officially ended on Sunday. While there were some nice tributes for him online from former mayor Jenny Dowell and others, Smith s reign as mayor ended with a whimper and not a bang. In announcing his retirement pre-Christmas, Smith said he was moving into the private sector to take up a position as the chief executive officer of a local NGO.
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AFTER a year of floods, fires and a global pandemic, it would be an understatement to say that Lismore Council has faced a big year.
Here are some of the highlights and lowlights from 2020 for the council:
1) Lismore Council delivers huge financial turnaround.
In a bleak year which was decimated by the coronavirus pandemic, Lismore Council managed to deliver a surprising audit result. The recent audit saw Council had recovered their deficit from an eight million dollar deficit to $600,000 deficit.
2) Isaac Smith resigns as mayor
Mayor Isaac Smith shocked the local community by announcing his resignation from the role late last week. Cr Smith had held the role since 2016 and been on council since 2016. His retirement from Lismore City Council will be effective from 1 February 2021.
Departing Mayor of Lismore Isaac Smith. Photo supplied.
Lismore City Mayor Isaac Smith has announced his retirement after more than twelve years serving on Lismore City Council.
Cr Smith said he was leaving to focus on his career within the non-government sector.
His retirement from Lismore City Council will be effective from 1 February 2021
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‘Just prior to COVID-19, I was appointed as the Chief Executive Officer of a local NGO, which is a very time-consuming and demanding role. I accepted the position as I had planned to retire at the now postponed local government elections in mid-2020,’ said Mayor Smith.
‘With elections now delayed until September next year due to the pandemic, I think it’s in the best interests of our community that someone else takes up the role of mayor who can give it the attention it needs and deserves.’