Central Coast councillors will now be allowed to attend Council briefings which aren’t confidential remotely following a decision at the Council meeting on June 22.
Deputy Mayor Jane Smith argued that councillors needed a valid reason for not turning up to briefings in person, but other councillors said dialling in to meetings saved time.
Councillor Jillian Hogan said Zoom meetings were a better use of time and Councillor Doug Vincent said it saved him two hours travelling time.
A report showing the councillors’ absences at Council briefings was tabled earlier in the meeting without comment or debate.
It showed that Cr Smith had attended the most briefings in the last two years; 72 of 78.
Councillor Greg Best had attended the least at just 17.
The attendances at the CEO’s weekly COVID-19 updates were also listed but the updates were recorded so councillors could catch up later if not in attendance.
Councillor Troy Marquart had not attended any CEO updates and Cr Best had attended one.
The councillors adopted a list of meeting dates for the rest of the year and decided Council meetings would continue to be held at Wyong once they were able to be held in public again.
The Council had decided in February to meet only at Wyong because it had better facilities to cater for more public gallery members than the Gosford chambers.
No date has been set for face to face meetings, but the Wyong council building foyer is being renovated and the building won’t be available for meetings until about September.
In the meantime, if meetings are allowed to be held in chambers, but without public attendance, they will be held at Gosford chambers without members of the public being present, councillors decided.
Source
Agenda Items 2.2 and 4.1
Central Coast Council meeting June 22.