Councillors support Mayor advisors

Councillors have voted to enable newly elected Mayor Nick Dametto to appoint three advisors to assist him in achieving his mayoral duties and organisational goal of growing Townsville.

Under the Local Government Act, Mayors are entitled to three advisors, with the support of fellow councillors.

Mayor Nick Dametto said he had put it all in for Townsville and had hit the ground running, but in order to give the community the service they deserved, he required assistance from specialised staff.

“The role of Mayor of a city like Townsville is extremely important, we have seen what happens when that role isn’t setting our city on a great trajectory - so it’s critical that we have the right people in the job, providing good advice to move this city forward.”

The three advisor positions can be chosen by the mayor, or go out to market – however, the applicants must be suitably qualified.

Councillor Dametto said he needed individuals with a legal background, policy and local government experience, as well as media and planning expertise in order to move Townsville forward, with the positions being benchmarked against previous mayor’s advisor positions.

“I want to lead this Council collaboratively, and I am appreciative of the councillors for putting their faith in me as Mayor and voting today and allow my request for suitably qualified staff to get this job done, and do it well.”

The Special Council Meeting also addressed a number of appointments to committees and organisational positions held by Councillors, including:

Council resolved to:

• Appoint Councillor Greaney to the Audit and Risk Committee in place of the Acting Mayor.
• Appoint the Mayor to: North Queensland Regional Organisation of Councils, Regional Queensland Council of Mayors and Townsville Enterprise Limited (in addition to the already appointed Councillor Mooney)

It was also noted that in accordance with Section 10(2)(b)(i) of the Local Government Regulation 2014, Mayor Dametto would become the Chair of the Townsville Local Disaster Management Group and former chair, Councillor Andrew Robinson would be appointed the Deputy Chair.