Wagga councillors Tim Koschel and Paul Funnell have used their resignation speeches to call for greater "diversity" on council bodies before stepping down from their respective committee positions.
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Cr Koschel resigned from his various committee and planning panel commitments at last night's council meeting after giving a speech in which he said he had "sacrificed a lot to come into this chamber", before Cr Funnell resigned from the Crime Prevention Working group.
It comes after significant criticism from members of the public and from some fellow councillors following a story in The Daily Advertiser about Crs Funnell and Koschel missing committee meetings.
Attendance percentages for committees and other bodies sees most councillors in the 80s, while Crs Funnell and Koschel turned up about 47 and 53 per cent of the time respectively, council figures compiled by this masthead show.
Councillors voluntarily indicate their interest in joining committees at the start of their council terms.
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Cr Koschel, who works full-time as a regional bank manager, last night reiterated his long-standing criticism of Wagga City Council for holding most of its committees during business hours.
He said the meeting times were preventing better representation and "true diversity" on council, because they deterred ordinary 9 to 5 workers from running for local government.
"I'm doing this for the right reasons. I won't make any apology for putting my family first," he said.
"For people to call out me for what I'm doing when they have no idea what I'm doing for the community. They don't see what I'm doing [out there talking to people]. That's true community representation."
He also doubled down on earlier claims he had been subject to "bullying" and "harassment" by councillors Vanessa Keenan and Dan Hayes over the attendance issue.
Cr Koschel in July last year ordered a review of the times committee meetings were held which led to the December release of a council report examining the diversity and representation of its committees.
Two councillors responded to the survey along with 31 external committee members. Of the latter group, 96 per cent were happy with the meeting times and dates.
The gender split of committee members was 55 per cent men and 42 per cent women and females, with 70 per cent of all members aged over 45.
Cr Koschel has stepped down from the Southern Regional Planning Panel, Crime Prevention Working Gorup, Annual Grants Panel, Sporting Hall of Fame panel, Loans to community organisations steering committee, and the honours committee.
Paul Funnell said he was forced to close his hay contracting business during his first term because he "couldn't share two masters", indicating that he put his council responsibilities first.
"[It's] absolute garbage. I'm not here to defend myself. Weekends, days, gone. I did put family second and I do apologise to my family for that," he said.
He echoed Cr Koschel's comments about meeting times deterring workers from standing for council.
"This is why councils and committees and bureaucracies everywhere have ended up with, in so many cases ... bald or white headed men even like me," he said.
Councillor Dallas Tout was appointed to the Southern Regional Planning Panel to replace Cr Koschel.
Councillors Greg Conkey and Vanessa Keenan were named as the first and second alternates, respectively, to the Southern Regional Planning Panel.