Councillor Catherine Lezer left the city’s ordinary council meeting when asked by a member of the public whether she had made any contact with Reynolds since she was placed on leave on May 20.
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she → leave → May
Reynolds was later sacked by the council on September 23.
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Reynolds → sack → September
Responding to the question, Lezer said she had begun writing an email to the former chief executive about many different topics.
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she → respond → topics
“The substance of [the email] was something like, when Michelle Reynolds stepped in to become CEO in August 2020, she stepped into an organisation that was reeling from the previous inquiry,” she said.
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she → step → inquiry
“She immediately launched the evolution to excellence and implemented all of the 215 Perth inquiry recommendations by 2024, and turning the City into a high-performance service organisation.”
But Lezer was interrupted by Lord Mayor Bruce Reynolds, who called a point of order and told her to answer the question with relevance.
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who → launch → relevance
“The question is: have you had any contact with the CEO over that period of time?
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you → have → time
Not necessarily about whether or not you wrote an email,” he said.
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he → write → email
Lezer continued her response by saying, “Michelle Reynolds’ leadership was defined by a people-first philosophy that has transformed the city’s internal culture,” before the lord mayor interrupted again, requesting she answered the question.
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she → continue → question
“I need an answer for this, so we can move on, please,” he said.
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he → need → this
“It’s irrelevant the line of answer that you’re taking at the moment.
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you → ’ → moment
The question is: have you had any direct contact with the CEO, it’s a yes or a no … and if the answer is no, you can just say no and move on.”
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you → have → no
Lezer responded sternly: “I can’t give you a yes or a no …
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I → respond → yes
I have a lot to say about the answer.”
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I → have → answer
Notably frustrated, Lezer began packing up her things before leaving the council chambers.
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Lezer → frustrate → chambers
“Well, they’re not going to get the answer.
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they → go → answer
I’m sorry to Mr Chapman that he’s not going to get his answer, and I refuse to sit here while the chair silences me for talking about the CEO,” she said.
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she → ’m → CEO
Lezer did not return to the meeting.
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Lezer → return → meeting
In August, prior to Reynolds’ dismissal, Lezer made a motion to reinstate the former chief executive into her role, but that was knocked back by her fellow councillors.
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that → make → councillors
Earlier on Wednesday night, the lord mayor addressed Michelle Reynolds’ sacking and said the decision did not come “quickly, casually, or without extensive or robust processes”.
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decision → address → processes
He also made a point of addressing council members speaking out on the issue in a personal manner.
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He → make → manner
“Every elected member has the right to disagree and the right to vote on a decision.
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member → elect → decision
Every elected member has the right to ask difficult questions and express an opinion.
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member → elect → opinion
That’s democracy,” he said.
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he → ’ → ?
“But there is a difference between opinions and facts, and there is also a difference between information you know as a private citizen and information you receive because you hold public office.
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you → be → office
“Simply saying that you are speaking in a personal capacity does not remove responsibility and statutory obligations that come with being an elected member.
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that → say → responsibility
“The standards should be simple: if something is presented as fact, you better make sure that it’s correct, and if something is confidential, you better protect it.
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you → present → it
“To those who are doing the right thing, you should be commended.
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you → do → thing
If we want to change the culture of this council.
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we → want → council
That responsibility belongs to every single one of us.”
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responsibility → belong → us
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