by Councillor Charles Jago
7/12/2023
I was disappointed this week that Council was unable to agree on formally requesting that Angelo Tsirekas, resign from his position as Mayor following a finding of corrupt conduct by ICAC.
The Council meeting this week considered a motion proposed by Councillor Ferguson that noted that the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) had found Mayor Angelo Tsirekas corrupt and “expressed grave concern with the reputational damage to the City of Canada Bay Council” and called on Angelo Tsirekas to resign.
I supported the motion. I believe that, although Angelo Tsirekas has done some good things, his corrupt behaviour is unacceptable and that Council should dissociate itself from that behaviour.
A number of other councillors did not agree. They were not of the view that the council’s reputation has suffered. They also did not want to make any comment on the behaviour of the mayor. Councillor Michael Megna put up an amendment that effectively just referred the matter to the Minister for Local Government; that Council write to the Minister to expedite a response. That amendment was successful, replacing the original motion. The public gallery got a bit noisy at that point; I didn’t agree with that amendment either. Yes the Minister is responsible for making the decision to dismiss the Mayor, but Council has copped out on its own leadership role.
The Minister has suspended Angelo Tsirekas, who has denied the finding of corruption. Currently, according to the ABC article, the mayor has been granted additional time and will appeal to the NSW Supreme Court for a review of ICAC’s findings.
It would be great to get this overall matter resolved quickly.