I saw her face frequently in the media, and I found her to be relatable. She appeared to rightfully stand up to councillors who disagreed with her. I thought the other councillors were being unnecessarily pedantic about technicalities in meetings, using 'process' as a way to stifle real action.

However, as I listened closely to what the Mayor and councillors were saying in council meetings and read the publicly available meeting background information, I had to question my original assessments.

I urge community members to watch the recording of the June 3 open council meeting.

In this meeting, the Mayor used 50 minutes of council resources to confidently assert that council is dysfunctional, and to push for an early election.

Other councillors provided measured evidence that council is functioning effectively. For instance, apparently councillors have an 86 per cent rate of unanimous decisions.

In contrast, the Mayor did not produce relevant evidence for her assertions. When one councillor asked for examples, the Mayor told them they should be ashamed of themselves and implied that this councillor was involved in bullying her.

In fact, the Mayor suggested she was the victim of longstanding bullying at council, but again did not give examples when asked.

Bullying is a serious issue, and it bothers me greatly that these claims would be made in this way in a political forum.

So, I hope that our community will look beyond the headlines, watch the recording of the last council meeting, and consider the evidence for the Mayor's assertions of council dysfunction and bullying.

From my own observations, it just doesn't add up.

Rachel Sheppard

Port Macquarie