Hawkesbury City Council
Hawkesbury Independent Councillor Nathan Zamprogno has laid into the Liberal Party and into Hawkesbury City Council Mayor Sarah McMahon following his expulsion from the NSW Liberal Party after 32 years of membership.
In an email and on social media he said the move followed “a years-long orchestrated campaign of bullying from a minority within the party”.
“People in the Hawkesbury expect their Councillors to be focused on the issues, such as the condition of our roads, how high their rates are, and in making the Hawkesbury a pleasant and prosperous city as we continue to recover from multiple disasters.
They expect their Councillors to work together as a team for the benefit of all. It is frustrating to have to deal with petty attacks and I resent the distraction.”
Hawkesbury City Mayor Sarah McMahon is Vice-President of the NSW Division.
In a response to Clr Zamprogno on social media she said he was suspended from the Liberal Party, not expelled.
“I hold firm that I have never bullied Nathan. However the mountain of evidence tendered against Nathan that led to the alleged misconduct finding, shows a pattern of bullying towards me, my family members and other Liberals.”
The public fall-out has come days before the election of Hawkesbury City Mayor which is scheduled to take place on Tuesday, September 12th at 6.30pm.
Clr Sarah McMahon was elected to the position of Hawkesbury Mayor in August last year following the resignation of fellow Liberal councillor Patrick Conolly for personal reasons.
Barry Calvert (ALP) remained as Deputy Mayor. The 12-member Hawkesbury City Council elects its own Mayor rather than have a publicly elected Mayor. The position of Deputy Mayor is also up for election.
It’s a diverse council with 4 Liberal councillors (Richards, Connolly, Reardon and Veigel), 2 ALP councillors (Calvert and Kotlash), 2 Independents (Zamprogno and Lyons-Buckett) 1 Shooters Fishers and Farmers ( Djuric ); 1 Small Business Party (Dogramaci ) 1 The Greens (Wheeler) and Les Sheather so anything could happen.
The Hills to Hawkesbury Community News has been unable to ascertain if the current Mayor Sarah McMahon will nominate for the position but Nathan Zamprogno has told the paper that he will be standing for the Mayoral role.
Deputy Mayor Barry Calvert said he had been talking to his ALP colleague Amanda Kotlash about whether she would stand for Mayor and his voting preference would depend on her decision.
“There are no iron-clad agreements in place,” he told the Hills to Hawkesbury Community News. “I still have to talk to people this weekend about nominations.”
He would not elaborate on whether he would nominate for Deputy Mayor again (a role he has held twice before).
