Mayor walks

By Kath Gannaway
MURRINDINDI mayor Lyn Gunter will stand down tomorrow (9 December), walking away from almost 16 years as a councillor.
Cr Gunter is one year into a four-year term as representative of King Parrot Ward. Her resignation will force a by-election in the ward that covers the devastated Kinglake West community.
There also is speculation that it could resurrect calls for an administrator to be put in.
Cr Gunter is on record as far back as May as saying she believed the shire and its communities might have been better served by an administrator taking control, as happened with other national disasters such as Cyclone Tracy and the Queensland floods.
That didn’t happen and the shire has battled on through the early resignation of its chief executive, community opposition to the 6 per cent rate rise adopted in October and, failing a State Government rescue package, a $1.5 million budget shortfall.
The 1300 houses and businesses destroyed on Black Saturday, previously rated at improved value, now resort to site value for rates purposes.
Cr Gunter told the Mail last week it was a difficult decision, made as a matter of principle, over governance issues around the rate increase.
As mayor, Cr Gunter was obliged to sign off on the increase she alone voted against. In a statement to the council, and to the community, she said that as mayor she had tried to abide by the majority decision of the council but had found it difficult at times.
“For the record, I provide my reasons so the community understands why I did not vote in favour of the budget and council plan, which became the final reason behind my resignation,” she said.
Cr Gunter said she had proposed in September that the council approach the federal and state governments for a grant to cover the rate increase, which would have meant that the $600,000 increase could, at least, have been subsidised.
She said she argued that the compound effect of the budget could have been adjusted through internal efficiencies and as a fallback she said the proposed rates rise could have been halved to 3 per cent.
Cr Gunter said her proposals were ignored; no approach was made to state or federal governments, and the budget was adopted with the full 6 per cent increase on an assumption that the State Government would provide the funding.
“It was totally a matter of principle,” she said.
“What I was hearing everywhere is, ‘we’re not going too well at all’, and calls for the council to hold back on rate rises.”
In speaking against the rate increase she said she also argued that reducing the rates rise to 3 per cent would recognise the hardship the community had suffered through drought, the economic downturn and the fires.
“It would acknowledge the amazing strength of the community over the past months since February 7,” she said.
Cr Gunter said she respected the right of all councillors to make their own decision but she had come to realise that most Murrindindi councillors, while wanting to reach the same destination of community benefit and recovery, were on different roads.
She said she had no plans to enter state or federal politics but would find another role to continue to support the Murrindindi communities “where I believe I can be more effective”.
In her weekly “Mayor’s Chair” message on 6 August, Cr Gunter chose as her “Thought for the Week” American theologian Reinhold Niebuhr’s insight: “God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference.”