Kent Johns says he doesn’t know whether he will still be Sutherland Shire mayor after Monday night.
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Liberal Party councillors, who make up two thirds of the council, will decide whom to nominate for the annual mayoral election.
An announcement by independent councillor Bruce Walton at the council meeting on Monday night that he had joined the Liberal Party group has led to speculation that he had been lined up for the job.
Cr Johns said Cr Walton’s move was ‘‘unrelated’’ to the mayoral election.
‘‘However, he has as much right as anyone else in the team to put his name forward,’’ Cr Johns said.
‘‘Bruce advised me a few weeks ago. He has always worked well with us, and, while he was not a Liberal Party member, he was the party’s financial controller previously.’’
Cr Johns said he was ‘‘not sure’’ whether he would retain the mayoral role he has held since the election 12 months ago.
‘‘The team is yet to have a meeting and I haven’t taken a pulse,’’ he said.
‘‘It will be a team decision and I want it to be made in a collaborative way, not as a ballot.’’
Cr Johns said that over the past year there had been ‘‘significant, but necessary, change and upheaval’’ which had pleased some shire residents but not others.
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