IN A shock decision Armidale Dumaresq councillors voted to sack general manager Shane Burns on Monday night.
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The move has divided councillors down the middle.
During the closed session of Monday night’s Council meeting, mayor Laurie Bishop and deputy mayor Jenny Bailey put forward a resolution to negotiate Mr Burns’ contract as general manager be terminated early.
The motion included a resolution for Local Government NSW to organise mediation.
If the mediation doesn’t provide a resolution, then the mayor and deputy mayor could seek to negotiate with Mr Burns the early termination of his contract.
Councillors Laurie Bishop, Jenny Bailey, Margaret O’Connor, Andrew Murat and Chris Halligan voted for the motion, while Herman Beyersdorf, Colin Gadd, Jim Maher, Rob Richardson and Peter O’Donohue voted against.
Cr Bishop had the casting vote, which carried the motion.
It was followed by a recission motion by Cr Beyersdorf, with the support of Cr Gadd and Cr Maher.
As a result, the motion has been suspended until Council can revisit the issue.
An extra ordinary council meeting is expected to be held next week to vote on the recession motion.
