A cafe owner and Central Ward candidate has refuted claims her lease on council owned assets would present a conflict of interest if elected.
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In fact, she believes her position in the community makes her more qualified than most.
Sarah Smith who operates Crest Birubi Beach responded to the claims from another Anna Bay resident, Andrew Searle.
“There’s no question to answer,” she said.
“If there was a conflict of interest, I would declare it. Our lease is with the surf club, not the council.”
Mr Searle said he raised the concerns “on behalf of the community”.
“A lot of people are looking for this council to be refreshed,” he said.
“With her having the lease, it would be seen to be a conflict of interest. The community might like to see a mobile coffee van at Birubi point but Sarah isn’t going to vote for it.”
Ms Smith said there was “no way” she would participate in a vote, in such a scenario.
“In a case like that, I wouldn’t be able to participate,” she said.
“It’s not uncommon at all for business people to have different interests, it’s how you manage those. If anything, it’s a very good thing as I’m very well qualified to represent the community and interested in the community doing well, not to mention the people I employ.”
The Office of Local Government said a candidate’s lease of council property in no way would disqualify a candidate like Ms Smith from running for office.
“The fact that a person leases property from a council does not constitute grounds for disqualification from holding office in the council under section 275 of the Local Government Act 1993,” the office said in a statement.
“Under the Local Government (General) Regulation 2005, councillors are required to disclose interests that they have in property in their returns of interests submitted under section 449 of the Act. This includes interests arising from a lease of property.”
The office said the rules were very clear with councillors when it came to managing potential conflicts of interest.
“Councillors are also required to disclose and appropriately manage any conflicts of interests they may have in matters under consideration by the council at meetings. Councillors are required to remove themselves from the consideration of a matter where they have a pecuniary interest in it or where they have a significant non-pecuniary conflict of interest in relation to it.”
