by Luke Voogt
Golden Plains Shire Mayor Owen Sharkey has refused to comment on a heated verbal confrontation between him and a real estate agent on Monday.
A witness, who wished to remain anonymous, said she saw Cr Sharkey yelling at real estate agent Dean Wilson outside Bannockburn Railway Hotel.
The woman remained in her car during the incident about 5.15pm as she had feared the car park altercation could become physical, she said.
She claimed Mr Wilson had attempted to diffuse the situation and she declined to be named saying she feared for her safety.
“I was shocked,” she said.
“You’ve gone in to get some milk and bread and you see something like this. It happened so quickly.”
According to the woman, a number of other people saw the incident unfold. The Indy understands no one phoned police about the incident.
The Indy on Tuesday phoned Cr Sharkey, also a real estate agent, who refused to answer multiple questions about the altercation.
He also declined to confirm or deny any of the witness’s allegations.
“I’ve got nothing to say on the matter,” he said.
“Myself and another agent had a discussion and I’m happy to leave it at that.”
Cr Sharkey said the incident “had nothing to do” with his mayoral role.
The incident occurred less than a week after Golden Plains Shire voted 4-3 to retain Cr Sharkey as mayor in a special meeting at Bannockburn Shire Hall.
Two other councillors, Nathan Hansford and David Evans, put their hats in the ring for mayorship during the meeting last Wednesday.
Cr Evans could not secure a seconder leaving Cr Sharkey to narrowly claim victory over Cr Hansford.
Cr Sharkey was elected to council in 2016 and first took up the position of mayor last year.
Cr Sharkey represents Golden Plains Shire on municipal alliance G21 and Tourism Greater Geelong and the Bellarine, according to the shire’s website.
“He wishes to be seen as an approachable councillor whose decisions benefit the whole of the shire,” the website states.
Mr Wilson “reluctantly” confirmed the altercation had occurred and said that he had attempted to diffuse the situation before walking away.
He said he was unsure why the altercation occurred and declined to comment further.
Golden Plains Shire declined to respond to the Indy’s questions.
