Post by taxed on Apr 22, 2006 1:08:44 GMT -6
A MEETING of councillors in a mayor's office descended into farce yesterday when a councillor threw tomato sauce all over another one.
The meeting was attended by the Shoalhaven Mayor Greg Watson, the deputy mayor, the council's general manager and about four other councillors.
Party pies, along with a bowl of tomato sauce, were among the light snacks at the meeting.
Two of the councillors, Gareth Ward and John Willmott, have a history of not seeing eye to eye on some matters that have come before Shoalhaven Council.
Those disagreements came to a head yesterday, when Mr Ward ending up splattered with a generous helping of tomato sauce.
He was forced to return home for a shower and change of clothes before returning for further meetings.
Mayor Greg Watson confirmed the incident last night, saying he was reading a business paper when it was hit by a blob of tomato sauce.
"I was quite surprised, I looked up and Councillor Ward had sauce dripping off his face and down his shirt," he said.
Mr Watson said there was "no justification for councillors throwing things at each other".
Mr Ward was last night calling for Mr Willmott to resign.
"This sort of behaviour needs to be addressed," Mr Ward told The Daily Telegraph last night.
"This is a $200 million organisation and behaving like this is absolutely unacceptable. I am certainly going to call for Mr Willmott's resignation and demand that he attend anger management classes."
The Daily Telegraph has seen an exchange of emails where Mr Willmott refers to Mr Ward as "a little twerp" and Mr Ward suggests Mr Willmott has poor spelling.
"The party pies and the tomato sauce were on the mayor's boardroom table and I leaned over him [Mr Willmott] to get a pie," Mr Ward said.
"He said something unpleasant to me and I said 'at least I know how to spell that'. He stood up, pushed me and flicked sauce at me several times. The other councillors were outraged."
The meeting was attended by the Shoalhaven Mayor Greg Watson, the deputy mayor, the council's general manager and about four other councillors.
Party pies, along with a bowl of tomato sauce, were among the light snacks at the meeting.
Two of the councillors, Gareth Ward and John Willmott, have a history of not seeing eye to eye on some matters that have come before Shoalhaven Council.
Those disagreements came to a head yesterday, when Mr Ward ending up splattered with a generous helping of tomato sauce.
He was forced to return home for a shower and change of clothes before returning for further meetings.
Mayor Greg Watson confirmed the incident last night, saying he was reading a business paper when it was hit by a blob of tomato sauce.
"I was quite surprised, I looked up and Councillor Ward had sauce dripping off his face and down his shirt," he said.
Mr Watson said there was "no justification for councillors throwing things at each other".
Mr Ward was last night calling for Mr Willmott to resign.
"This sort of behaviour needs to be addressed," Mr Ward told The Daily Telegraph last night.
"This is a $200 million organisation and behaving like this is absolutely unacceptable. I am certainly going to call for Mr Willmott's resignation and demand that he attend anger management classes."
The Daily Telegraph has seen an exchange of emails where Mr Willmott refers to Mr Ward as "a little twerp" and Mr Ward suggests Mr Willmott has poor spelling.
"The party pies and the tomato sauce were on the mayor's boardroom table and I leaned over him [Mr Willmott] to get a pie," Mr Ward said.
"He said something unpleasant to me and I said 'at least I know how to spell that'. He stood up, pushed me and flicked sauce at me several times. The other councillors were outraged."