This is because the majority of current Bega Valley Shire councillors do not support the idea of a mayor elected by the public.

Before Michael Britten was returned as mayor in a councillor vote this week, the topic of a publically elected mayor was briefly raised at council’s meeting on September 2. 

This week, councillors Liz Seckold and Russell Fitzpatrick said they agreed with the idea of electing a mayor by the public, while Cr Tony Allen said he had been hearing people across the community wanted this opportunity.

Cr Fitzpatrick said having a mayor elected this way would allow the community to have their say.

He said there were a lot of great people in the Bega Valley who could run for mayor and they would need to be well-known across the whole shire, Eden to Bermagui, to be elected.

However, Mayor Michael Britten said there were arguments both for and against a popularly elected mayor.

“If you have someone who is elected by the people and gets on with the other councillors, then it’s fine,” he said.

“But if they don’t get on, it might not be the best way to go.”

Councillors Ann Mawhinney, Kristy McBain, Sharon Tapscott and Bill Taylor did not agree with the idea.

“After working with the other councillors, we get a pretty good insight into who will do the job of mayor well,” Cr McBain said.

“Sometimes that person is not the most popular person in the electorate, but the person that the majority of councillors see with the intelligence, insight and integrity to do the job to the best of their ability.” 

Cr Taylor said while the vast majority of Bega Valley Shire councillors in recent years have been unaligned to a political party, popularly elected mayors could be “the thin edge of the wedge” to political parties standing candidates in council elections. 

In giving a different perspective, Cr Keith Hughes said he did not think popularly elected mayors would improve the system.

“If the current system devised by the state government is dysfunctional, I’m not sure that fiddling with the way mayors are appointed will change anything,” he said. 

CURRENTLY, councillors in the Bega Valley are elected for a four-year term and the mayor is elected by councillors for one year.

BVSC councillor elections will next occur in September 2016.

If legislation for a popularly elected mayor was adopted by BVSC, the public would elect a mayor for the same four-year period served by all councillors.

Mayor Michael Britten said for such legislation to be adopted there would need to be a referendum on the issue for the Bega Valley Shire.

He said the council would have to vote to put the proposal for a popularly elected mayor at the September elections next year.

After a referendum, the legislation would not take effect until the councillor elections after that, four years on.

Mayor Britten said local government amendments, scheduled to be applied next September, proposed mayors be elected for a two-year period.

He thought this would be a compromise between popularly elected and the current councillor elected system.