Councillor out, council quiet

By Nicole Williams
FOLLOWING Pinar Yesil’s shock sacking from council last week, councillors voted to keep her position vacant until elections next month.
The ejected councillor was the elephant in the room at Monday night’s meeting, but only one of the remaining 10 councillors spoke briefly of the scandal.
Councillor Jim Memeti wished Ms Yesil well during his allocated report time.
“Congratulations to Pinar Yesil on her seven years of service,” he said.
“I wish her well in the future.”
Councillors voted unanimously to keep her position vacant until council elections on 27 October, to avoid considerable financial expense.
The report said her contributions would be noted in ‘due course’.
“This extraordinary vacancy in no way undermines the considerable contribution that Pinar Yesil has made to the community and the City of Greater Dandenong as a councillor between November 2005 and August 2012,” the report said.
“Her contributions are noted and will be formally acknowledged in due course.”
The motion was moved by Cr John Kelly and supported by Cr Peter Brown.
In a media statement last week, Ms Yesil said she did not intend to renominate for her council position in October but was seeking legal advice on her appeal rights.
Following her ousting from council, the Star revealed that council was contravening the Accessibility, Transparency and Accountability (ATA) Reform Charter, which Ms Yesil implemented as mayor in 2009, by not updating councillor expenses each month.
Council had not made any expenses public since February however, expenses for March, April, May and June have since been updated.