SOME Wagga councillors are under fire for not having their community's interest in mind while representing council at the local government conference this week.
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During the conference a motion was passed calling for the state government to declare a climate emergency. A similar motion was approved by Wagga councillors in July, who back-flipped on its decision two weeks later.
Crs Vanessa Keenan, Rod Kendall, Greg Conkey and Yvonne Braid were council's delegates at the conference. Each had a vote on the climate emergency declaration.
Following the outcome, Cr Keenan told The Daily Advertiser that the result was a "good move".
But Crs Tim Koschel and Paul Funnell called out the councillors who voted in favour of the motion for not representing the city's interests.
"The four voting delegates are representing Wagga City Council. Regardless of their personal beliefs, they should have voted in accordance to the council's position," Cr Koschel said.
In other news:
Crs Yvonne Braid and Rod Kendall voted against the motion, whereas Cr Keenan declined to reveal her vote saying people could make a "valid assumption" on how councillors voted.
"There is no rule to say you have to vote with your council's position. I attended a code of conduct workshop at the conference and a councillor asked if a council has a position, do you have to vote in accordance to that and the lawyer said no," she said.
Cr Kendall said councillors need to "trust each other's judgement" because it is "the beauty of democracy". But he said there was an issue with "large party influence" at the conference.
"I'm not sure if there were instructions from the parties on how to vote," he said.
Cr Braid said councillors should have voted to reflect council's position. Cr Conkey was contacted for comment.