CRAIG Deasey is a man with a weight off his shoulders.
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At home in Ashtonfield on Friday the now-former Dungog general manager, a veteran of local government who has been in the job since 2005, could only laugh when asked how spending the last few years at the helm of the Hunter’s most financially crippled council has affected him.
“Well, it has certainly taken a toll,” he said.
“There have been many sleepless nights, and I’m suffering from a few health-related things at the moment.
“Basically the body is tired and I need to give it a rest.”
In 2015, when Dungog was torn apart by the devastating April floods, it was Mr Deasey who was tasked with holding the council – and the town – together, while navigating the NSW government’s complex local government Fit for the Future process.
In August that year, it got too much. After working “countless” hours since April, his health deteriorated to the point that he was forced to take three months of stress leave.
His doctors told him not to come back to work, but he ignored them. Partly because of his close relationship with his staff, but also because he thought “there would have to be an end point”.
But the end never came. Last month, Dungog councillors shocked many in their community by ignoring Mr Deasey’s pleas to pursue a voluntary merger with Port Stephens and instead wait until at least after the next election.
He said that vote was “very much” part of his decision to leave.
“As a general manager you’re required to implement the policy decisions of the councillors [but] the reality is there was a possibility that resolution could lead to the possible splitting of the shire, which is the worst outcome for the Dungog community,” he said.
Mr Deasey’s decision to walk prompted a mass exodous of councillors – four, including the Mayor Harold Johnston – and leaves the council with only four remaining.
That’s prompted Nationals MP Michael Johnsen to again call for his government to put the council in the hands of an administrator. Local Government Minister Gabrielle Upton said on Friday the issue was “being considered as a matter of urgency”.
The Local Government Act states that an administrator “may be appointed for an area” without a public inquiry if “there are not enough councillors for there to be a quorum at council meetings”.
But Greens Upper House MP David Shoebridge believes the council still has a quorum under the act, which also states that a quorum is “a majority of the councillors of the council who hold office for the time being”.
He said the council could “function pretty well, and I expect it will”.
“I find it astounding a Nationals MP is trying to sink another regional council,” he said.
Asked how four councillors including the mayor resigning in one day was not a chaotic situation, he replied: I find it a pretty appalling betrayal of the responsibilities of an elected councillor. It is a betrayal of the trust of those who elected them to do a job”.
He said the exodus was a “political strategy”.
“What I see is a poorly orchestrated and ugly political strategy which has backfired,” he said.
But Mr Deasey denied he had been part of any plan to force the government’s hand.
He also hit out at remaining councillor Linda Bowden, who on Friday accused the departing councillors of throwing “a bit of a tantrum” and “closing down debate”.
“They have had years to sort this out among themselves and to put up the motion they did last month to me demonstrates filibustering at the worst possible time,” he said.
“It means further delay, further time of uncertainty for the community.
“This is going to go on, and on, and on.”
