DUMPED city chief executive officer Sharon Kelsey has returned to Logan after a school holiday break with her family in Melbourne, determined to fight for reinstatement.
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“They (my family) should be here with me in Queensland, but for obvious reasons they are not,” she told a Saturday meeting of the Logan Ratepayers Association attended by about 70 people at St Mark’s Anglican Church Hall, Daisy Hill, on Saturday.
“It is good to know they are there and completely separate from the challenge.
“I suppose that may sound a little strange but I’m glad, in a motherly way, that my family is taken care of (there) by my husband, our extended family and our friends … The challenge I am facing at the moment is something for me alone to carry forward.”
Ms Kelsey, sacked after a February Logan City Council meeting in a vote divided seven to five, is fighting for her reinstatement in the Queensland Industrial Relations Commission. She thanked residents for their support, interest and passion for the community, because, that “absolutely is what this is all about”.
She said the issue was bigger than the personal discomfort it caused, and would set the tone for herself, her staff and the city of Logan going into the future.
“This is not all about me. I could have walked away … I am the sort of person who is always going to speak up. If someone like me cannot speak up then I fear for the world I am leaving for my children.”
The turnout included two former Logan mayors, five councillors and a former mayoral candidate. Pam Parker was a popular figure at Logan City Council, serving for 19 years before she stood aside as mayor in 2016.
John Freeman was Logan mayor for six years until 2006 when he stood aside after being diagnosed with clinical depression. He has set up a GoFundMe page to raise $50,000 to help Ms Kelsey fight her legal battle.
Brett Raguse contested the mayoralty in 2016. So did Mr Freeman. Both said they would contest the next election.
Councillors were Darren Power, Laurie Koranski, Jon Raven, Lisa Bradley and Stacey McIntosh. Cr McIntosh faces a legal battle of her own. She was charged in 2016 with stealing from an employer before she was elected. No trial date has been set.
The same five councillors last week met with Local Government Minister Stirling Hinchliffe to call for the Logan mayor to stand aside while he fights charges of perjury and corruption arising from a CCC Operation Belcarra investigation into political donations.
Cr Smith faces Beenleigh Magistrates Court on April 17, the same day as the next full council meeting. A day later, Ms Kelsey’s matter goes back to the QIRC.
