Greens deputy mayor removed
"I call on our community to look forward and come together in unity to support each other during this time of heartbreak for many," she added.
The position of deputy mayor Ludovico Fabiano was declared vacant last Thursday night after he was one of two Greens councillors to vote against a resolution earlier in October condemning Hamas’s “horrific terrorist attack”.
Councillor Elaine Keenan, the lone Green to vote against the October resolution, has subsequently resigned from the Greens.
With nearly 100 members of the public in attendance last Thursday, councillors voted 10-2 at an extraordinary council meeting (ECM) to end Fabiano’s term in the role and 7-5 to remove him and fellow Greens councillor Dominic Wy Kanak as voting members of the Traffic Committee and the Audit, Risk and Improvement Committee.
Fabiano was also removed as deputy chair of the Multicultural Advisory Committee and the Strategic Planning and Development Committee, while Wy Kanak was removed as chair of the Finance, Operations and Community Services Committee.
“This was a victory for the Jewish community. We sent a clear message that our voices matter and that the leadership of our community must reflect our values and aspirations,” Liberal councillor William Nemesh said. “It was entirely appropriate that my Council colleagues supported my motion to remove Cr Fabiano as Deputy Mayor.”
In a media release, Waverley mayor Paula Masselos thanked Fabiano for his work as deputy mayor and acknowledged “the important role” he and Wy Kanak had played on council committees.
“I call on our community to look forward and come together in unity to support each other during this time of heartbreak for many,” she added.
Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council director of public affairs Walt Secord described Fabiano’s standing down as a
“victory for people power”.
He levelled harsh criticism at the two anti-Zionist Jews who spoke in the public section of Thursday’s meeting.
“Sadly, their only involvement in the Jewish community is to attack the Jewish community,” he said. “The anti-Zionist Jews should hang their heads in shame for supporting Cr Fabiano and his colleague, Cr Dominic Wy Kanak, who also voted against the original resolution.”
Fabiano said on social media after the vote, “I was disappointed to be sacked as Deputy Mayor for standing up for compassion and peace for the civilians of Israel and Palestine. Democracy took a step backwards in Waverley tonight.”
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