In a tense first Mount Isa City Council meeting since the council elections, the Progress Mount Isa team prevailed in two key early decisions.
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In the first item of business, Phil Barwick has retained his role as deputy mayor but not without a split decision.
Cr Kim Coghlan returning to Council after four years put her name forward and she was seconded by new mayor Danielle Slade.
Cr Coghlan said the three years she had worked in state government as an official for Robbie Katter made her suitable for the job.
Cr Slade said these were tough times and the new deputy mayor needed to put the time into the job.
She also noted Cr Coghlan topped the poll though Cr Mick Tully said the deputy mayor role wasn't a popularity contest,
In the end Cr Coghlan's nomination was defeated 5-1 with the five councillors of the Progress Mount Isa team (Barwick, Tully, MacRae, Fortune and Stretton) voting against and Cr Slade abstaining.
Cr MacRae then nominated Cr Barwick who accepted saying he was comfortable with the position in which the previous council had a lot of success and could put the time into the role as requested by the mayor.
His nomination was accepted 5-1 with the same blocs voting the same way as the previous vote.
For the role of Acting Mayor when neither the Mayor nor Deputy was available Cr Coghlan nominated Cr MacRae but Cr MacRae in turn nominated Cr Fortune.
Cr Fortune was accepted 5-1 in the same way as the two previous votes.
A decision to continue the meetings in the same time slot was passed 6-0 (Cr Slade abstaining after she wanted the date and time to be reviewed after the COVID-19 crisis passed) with Council to determine options to livestream the meeting in the next meeting.
Then Cr Slade wanted to move the allocation of councillor portfolios to open business to promote "openness and transparency" and she was seconded by Cr Coghlan.
But again the block of five Progress councillors defeated the motion 5-2 (with Cr Slade voting against this time) to leave the decision to closed business.
Afterwards the portfolios were announced:
Cr Phil Barwick: Finance, Customer Services, Economic Development, Promotion & Community Development, Arts.
Cr Kim Coghlan: Parks and Gardens (including the Splashez Aquatic Centre, Family Fun Precinct and Cemetery).
Cr George Fortune: Development and Town Planning.
Cr Peta MacRae: Tourism, Events, Sport and Recreation, Library.
Cr Paul Stretton: Environmental Management, Waste Management, Environmental Health, Water and Sewerage, Local Laws (Animal Management Facility), Camooweal.
Cr Mick Tully: Engineering, Roads, Rural Works, Concrete Batch Plant.
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Derek Barry
Editor of the North West Star Mount Isa since January 2016. Prior to that, an editor at several regional southern Queensland newspapers. Passionate about telling local stories. Comes with a strange accent to due an Irish accident of birth.
Editor of the North West Star Mount Isa since January 2016. Prior to that, an editor at several regional southern Queensland newspapers. Passionate about telling local stories. Comes with a strange accent to due an Irish accident of birth.
