By Luke Voogt
Geelong’s Citizens’ Jury initially voted 57 to 43 in favour of keeping the city’s public mayoral vote before recommending to scrap the election.
The whole “convoluted” process was a “wank”, said shadow local government minister David Davis.
“There was no majority against a directly elected mayor,” he said.
“It was a manufactured majority from high-paid consultants.”
The jury’s initial position reflected an online survey of 956 residents run in conjunction with the process that found 59 per cent wanted to keep the mayoral vote.
But the jury required an 80 per cent “super majority” to produce a verdict, newDemocracy Foundation director Iain Walker said.
“We don’t base decisions on a 51-49 majority,” he said.
The jury discussed the mayoral issue further before voting again for a result of 58 to 42 in favour of councillors choosing the mayor.
The jury progressed to another type of voting to reach a super-majority. They voted on each option against a scale of five ratings: love it, like it, live with it, lament it or loathe it.
Eighty-four per cent voted in the top three categories – live with it or above – for a councillor-chosen mayor, with 79 per cent voting the same way for a direct election.
Mr Walker said the process was completely transparent and critics had been welcome to attend the jury’s meetings.
“The door was always open,” he said.
The jury also voted in favour of a council structure with 11 councillors in four wards, with two in a central city ward and three each in the others.
The jury’s final report also included a number of “aspirational” recommendations like broadcasting council meetings live online and “councillor induction training”.
