Councillor Chris Harris

Media Release

At last night’s City of Sydney council meeting Greens Cr. Chris Harris offered the Lord Mayor the chance to put real substance behind her constant media calls for light rail. The Lord Mayor, Ms. Clover Moore, not only refused the offer but used her casting vote to veto the opportunity.

This was after the Lord Mayor’s office had leaked two reports on light rail thirty six hours earlier to the media but had waited until one hour before the council meeting to hand over those same reports to city councillors. Why?

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Media Release
Greens Cr Chris Harris has requested that council staff to prepare a report on how the City of Sydney can provide better pedestrian access between Chippendale and Victoria Park. The issue of a pedestrian bridge spanning the North Western section of Chippendale and Victoria Park has long been an aspiration of residents who live in this rapidly expanding part of the City of Sydney.

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Media Release

Following on from the disturbing departure of City of Sydney Council CEO Mr. Peter Seamer, Greens Councillor Chris Harris has obtained explosive legal advice that indicates that the Lord Mayor has acted outside her authority

According to this advice, the Lord Mayor’s power to negotiate a settlement with Mr Seamer would depend upon whether he resigned or was sacked and the Lord Mayor should immediately reveal the details of the CEO’s departure to the Councillors.

Cr Harris: “Whether the Lord Mayor forced the CEO to step down or whether she accepted his resignation with a negotiated confidential payout I have clear legal advice that the Lord Mayor has acted beyond her powers. If the CEO has resigned, as the Lord Mayor claims, the Lord Mayor has no authority to negotiate a settlement. If he has been terminated then the Lord Mayor has acted unlawfully in failing to consult with the Councillors.”

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Media Release

There was strong interest in the Forum on Homophobic Violence on Oxford Street held at Slide on Tuesday evening. Those who attended were local residents, the Darlinghurst Business partnership, City of Sydney’s new acting CEO Monica Barone, ACON President Adrian Lovney, Det Inspector David Egan-Lee from the Surry Hills Police plus many members of the local GLBTI community. Greens Cr. Chris Harris was the only City of Sydney Councillor to attend the meeting.

Speaker after speaker reinforced that physical violence and verbal vilification of the GLBTI community was a regular feature of life on Oxford St particularly in the higher risk times of Thursday-Saturday evenings.

Many speakers spoke about the importance of having a more visible police force as a way to curb aggressive behaviour towards GLBTI men and women. Views were mixed on the installation of CCTV cameras on Oxford St with privacy concerns and fears that the cameras would be used for other agendas aside from that of anti violence raised.

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Media Release

Less than 2 years into her reign as Lord Mayor, Clover Moore sacks her second CEO.

Today the Lord Mayor Clover Moore announced that Mr. Peter Seamer, CEO of the City of Sydney Council had resigned. This is less than one year into his contract and follows the sacking of previous CEO Robert Dom in late 2004. Today, Ms Moore refused to answer the question on whether Mr. Seamer had resigned or had been pushed.

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