Interim President of the Municipal Association of Victoria (MAV), Councillor Coral Ross, may have a shot at retaining the top position at the association, after another council has made the unusual move of backing her as their delegate.
Cr Ross’s hopes at becoming MAV President seemed to be dashed in December, after her council, the City of Boroondara, chose not to support her as their representative.
Australian Local Government Women’s Association Victorian Branch President, Helen Coleman, described Boroondara’s decision not to back Cr Ross as “bizarre”.
Boroondara Mayor Phillip Healy wrote to Cr Ross in December, citing reasons not to appoint her, including a harsh critique of the performance of the MAV.
“The Victorian Auditor General’s Report ‘Effectiveness of Support for Local Government’ in February 2015 raised significant concerns within Council regarding serious governance deficiencies at the MAV,” he wrote.
“Despite your sustained efforts as the South-East Region MAV representative; Board member; MAV Deputy President and most recently as MAV Interim President, the pace of organisational change at the MAV remains unchanged, and Council’s concerns about the efficacy of the MAV’s representation of the sector have not been allayed.”
However, last night, another Victorian council, the City of Darebin, voted unanimously to elect Cr Ross as their delegate to the MAV.
Darebin Mayor Kim Le Cerf said the decision was unusual, but the Council felt Cr Ross was a strong candidate for the presidency and that the Council wanted to make a strong stance on gender equality.
“This is not a decision we’ve taken lightly, but one that has arisen from a situation we felt too important to ignore,” the mayor said in a statement.
“There is agreement across the sector that we need more women in local government, and more women in leadership roles.”
For the move to go ahead Cr Ross would first need to accept the nomination and Darebin City Council would need to notify the MAV of their change of delegate.
The MAV would also need to seek legal advice to ensure the move was permissible under the association’s rules, which have not been tested in this way before.
The MAV’s board election will be held in early March and the nomination period closes on 10 February.
