Mayor McMahon was present for 516 of the 583 substantive motions.
McMahon was absent from 35 motions and recused herself due to a conflict of interest from a further 32 motions.
Hawkesbury City Councillor Watch
MAJOR REPORT:
Councillor Attendance & Absences this term
Attendance at chamber meetings doesn't tell the full story about the diligence of a successful Councillor, but it is one of the key metrics to understand how frequently they show up. How important is Councillors showing up to you?
This page updated on 1 September 2024 to reflect all the meetings held in the term from January 2021 through to August 2024.
583
Substantive motions
44
Public meetings
141
Hours of Council meetings
How we calculate absences
We’ve kept a thorough spreadsheet of Councillor voting behaviour and attendance at Hawkesbury City Council meetings for the entirety of the current Council term, starting with the first meeting held on January 11th, 2022.
We then filtered out procedural, condolence and other motions of little consequence. For example, motions about accepting minutes from the prior meeting, adjourning the meeting or allowing councillors to attend meetings via alternate means are ignored in these figures. Many such motions are passed unanimously.
We count which councillors were absent for votes and compare it to the the total number of relevant motions over the council term to formulate a percentage value.
What defines an 'absence'?
Councillors are human beings too. Life has unexpected turns, and we understand that. Councillors aren’t able to be present at every vote at every meeting. A ‘healthy’ amount of absences is understandable and allows Councillors to attend to events in their personal lives.
In this analysis, we’re sticking with the facts and the data provided by Hawkesbury City Council.
Absent from the vote without reason
The Councillor was not present in the chamber at the time of the vote, due to being absent for the entire meeting, having arrived late or left early, or not being in the room at the time the vote was held.
Absent from the vote due to a conflict of interest
Councillors are required by the Code of Conduct to ‘recuse’ themselves when they deem themselves to have a conflict of interest significant enough to impact them from acting impartially.
This is identified as being ‘absent’ in Council meeting minutes.
A Councillor recusing themselves is good behaviour. It ensures the integrity of the Chamber when there are decisions that could benefit them or people they have a close association with personally, or where there is perception they will not be impartial. However, too many recused votes may hinder a Councillor’s ability to perform their role to the expectations of the community.
What’s your expectations for a Councillor’s presence in the chamber?
What is the 'council briefings & workshops' data?
Councillors attend many more meetings that aren’t open to the public and aren’t live-streamed. These meetings known as briefings and workshops, help to educate, inform and get Councillors across important information regarding Council activities, items that are coming to a future Council meeting and much more.
Councillors attendance
The data & breakdowns
Liberal
Mayor
Sarah McMahon
Present for voted on motions
88%
Present for briefings & workshops
74%
These are the private Councillor briefings, workshops and other events put on by Council staff to inform Councillors about key Council activities and items coming up in future public Council meetings.
Liberal
Councillor
Patrick Conolly
Present for voted on motions
93%
Councillor Conolly was present for 542 of the 583 substantive motions.
Conolly was absent from 31 motions and recused himself due to a conflict of interest from a further 10 motions.
Present for briefings & workshops
52%
These are the private Councillor briefings, workshops and other events put on by Council staff to inform Councillors about key Council activities and items coming up in future public Council meetings.
Liberal
Councillor
Paul Veigel
Present for voted on motions
97%
Councillor Veigel was present for 565 of the 583 substantive motions.
Veigel was absent from 14 motions and recused himself due to a conflict of interest from a further 4 motions.
Present for briefings & workshops
77%
These are the private Councillor briefings, workshops and other events put on by Council staff to inform Councillors about key Council activities and items coming up in future public Council meetings.
Liberal
Councillor
Jill Reardon
Present for voted on motions
100%
Councillor Reardon was present for all 583 of the 583 substantive motions.
Present for briefings & workshops
90%
These are the private Councillor briefings, workshops and other events put on by Council staff to inform Councillors about key Council activities and items coming up in future public Council meetings.
Labor
Deputy Mayor
Barry Calvert
Present for voted on motions
93%
Deputy Mayor Calvert was present for 541 of the 583 substantive motions.
Calvert was absent from 41 motions.
Present for briefings & workshops
50%
These are the private Councillor briefings, workshops and other events put on by Council staff to inform Councillors about key Council activities and items coming up in future public Council meetings.
Labor
Councillor
Amanda Kotlash
Present for voted on motions
96%
Councillor Kotlash was present for 558 of the 583 substantive motions.
Kotlash was absent from 19 motions and recused herself due to a conflict of interest from a further 5 motions.
Present for briefings & workshops
72%
These are the private Councillor briefings, workshops and other events put on by Council staff to inform Councillors about key Council activities and items coming up in future public Council meetings.
Greens
Councillor
Danielle Wheeler
Present for voted on motions
98%
Councillor Wheeler was present for 573 of the 583 substantive motions.
Wheeler was absent from 2 motions and recused herself due to a conflict of interest from a further 8 motions.
Present for briefings & workshops
95%
These are the private Councillor briefings, workshops and other events put on by Council staff to inform Councillors about key Council activities and items coming up in future public Council meetings.
Shooters, Fishers & Farmers
Councillor
Shane Djuric
Present for voted on motions
96%
Councillor Djuric was present for 560 of the 583 substantive motions.
Djuric was absent from 22 motions and recused himself due to a conflict of interest from 1 motion.
Present for briefings & workshops
73%
These are the private Councillor briefings, workshops and other events put on by Council staff to inform Councillors about key Council activities and items coming up in future public Council meetings.
Small Business
Councillor
Eddie Dogramaci
Present for voted on motions
88%
Councillor Dogramaci was present for 511 of the 583 substantive motions.
Dogramaci was absent from 70 motions and recused himself due to a conflict of interest from 1 motion.
Present for briefings & workshops
38%
These are the private Councillor briefings, workshops and other events put on by Council staff to inform Councillors about key Council activities and items coming up in future public Council meetings.
Independent
Councillor
Mary Lyons-Buckett
Present for voted on motions
98%
Councillor Lyons-Buckett was present for 569 of the 583 substantive motions.
Lyons-Buckett was absent from 8 motions and recused herself due to a conflict of interest from a further 6 motions.
Present for briefings & workshops
87%
These are the private Councillor briefings, workshops and other events put on by Council staff to inform Councillors about key Council activities and items coming up in future public Council meetings.
Independent
Councillor
Les Sheather
Present for voted on motions
99%
Councillor Sheather was present for 578 of the 583 substantive motions.
Sheather was absent from for no motions and recused himself due to a conflict of interest from 4 motions.
Present for briefings & workshops
89%
These are the private Councillor briefings, workshops and other events put on by Council staff to inform Councillors about key Council activities and items coming up in future public Council meetings.
Independent
Councillor
Nathan Zamprogno
Present for voted on motions
97%
Councillor Zamprogno was present for 566 of the 583 substantive motions.
Zamprogno was absent from 15 motions and recused himself due to a conflict of interest from a further 2 motions.
Present for briefings & workshops
96%
These are the private Councillor briefings, workshops and other events put on by Council staff to inform Councillors about key Council activities and items coming up in future public Council meetings.
The raw data
Curious to see how the raw data looks? We’ve made our google sheet publicly available to browse. Take a look!
View spreadsheet