Mayor hits out at Greens

SHELLHARBOUR City Mayor, Cr David Hamilton has hit back at claims by Greens candidate for the seat of Shellharbour, Sonya McKay that the office of the NSW Ombudsman is investigating Councils handling of a request for information by Ms McKay last year.

There is no investigation and we have not been found guilty of anything, Cr Hamilton said.

We have simply replied to a letter from the Ombudsmans office and that should be the end of that.

The Mayor has also taken exception to Ms McKays claims that she is being gagged by Council under their rules of Public Participation.

Local government is not a platform for State politics, and I will not allow any politician or aspiring politician of any political persuasion to use Shellharbour Council as a vehicle to obtain political exposure, Cr Hamilton said.

Ms McKay seems to have no agenda or policies to underpin her bid for State election and I can assure you, she will not be using Shellharbour Council to advance her political aspirations.

During my time as Mayor, Ms McKay seems to have had only two ends in mind stopping development of our city and closing down the airport.

Neither of these are State issues.

Public participation is not a right it is a privilege extended to the community by Shellharbour Council we are not obliged to offer it, but we wanted to give our ratepayers the opportunity to be involved in the growth and development of our community.

Ms McKay and a handful of others have repeatedly abused the public participation process and we eventually had to put a stop to it, by introducing a number of rules and controls to prevent further abuse.

Unfortunately, as a result, the majority have suffered from the actions and behaviour of a few.

I will not step back from my commitment to the development of our city and creating employment, and I will not diminish my efforts to see Shellharbour prosper.