Greater Dandenong deputy mayor Sophie Tan says her comments on a possible councillor boycott of upcoming mayor elections have been “blown out of context”.
Cr Tan, who is running for mayor on 13 November, had stated that councillors may be breaching the Local Government Act if they don’t take part.
“If anyone breached the Act, there’ll be a consequence,” she had stated.
The warning was sharply criticized on social media.
But Cr Tan says that online posts stating she was “bullying and threatening people” had “blown (her comments) out of context”.
“I never threaten anyone to vote for me. It’s a democratic process.
“It’s part of the Local Government Act 2020 that all councillors have the responsibility to participate in the Mayoral’s election.
“But it’s up to the individual to vote.”
Independent councillors Rhonda Garad and Bob Milkovic have confirmed they may not show up for the mayor election.
They say they don’t wish to endorse what they claim has been a predetermined outcome by Labor figures: Cr Tan for mayor and Cr Phillip Danh for deputy mayor.
“I like how people still say it’s an election, assuming there’s a democratic process,” says Cr Milkovic, who has been an ‘apology’ at past mayoral votes.
Cr Danh has not confirmed or ruled out running for a leadership position.
In recent years, there has been growing disquiet about exclusively Labor-aligned mayors since 2008.
The mayor and deputy mayor roles are elected by an absolute majority of councillors. Eight of the 11 councillors are ALP members.
In March, Cr Garad unsuccessfully proposed for the public to vote for the mayor and deputy mayor, in order to break the ALP stranglehold.
