So the legal advice to the Shellharbour council was it had a 50-50 chance of succeeding if it appealed its merger court case.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The councillors who voted in favour, 5-2, have deemed “50-50” to be what Mayor Saliba described to the Illawarra Mercury as a “reasonable” chance of success.
Rationally, is 50-50 a “reasonable” chance?
Is a 50-50 a good enough grounding to spend more ratepayer money on taking a case to the Court of Appeal?
Councillor Peter Moran, who voted against proceeding, told the Illawarra Mercury on Friday the council’s legal advice did not specify whether it should or shouldn’t challenge.
“The legal advice didn’t suggest that we had anything better than a 50-50 chance,” Mr Moran said.
“My overall thoughts were that the grounds of appeal seem rather thin to me as a non-legal person.’’
Yet, with Mayor Marianne Saliba steering the ship, the council elected to plot a course ahead.
The Mayor and her supporters have been hellbent on pursuing this matter to its death no matter the cost to the ratepayer.
Perhaps they see it as their “The Castle” moment.
It was Albert Einstein who is credited with saying the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.
Applicable in this case maybe?
The Shellharbour council’s appeal will now have to be lodged by Tuesday.
All the while, the region remains in limbo.
YOUR CHANCE TO VOTE
The finalists for the Illawarra’s Top Model event have been chosen.
The event raises money for the Highlights for Mental Health campaign, of which the Illawarra Mercury is a proud partner.
Across this weekend we will launch a gallery of the 12 finalists at illawarramercury.com.au and you can get online and vote for the reader’s choice winner.
The winner will be announced at the 2016 Highlights Ball and Glamour Awards at the UOW Hall on October 22.
Congratulations to everyone who entered in this year's competition and congratulations to the finalists.
Get online and get voting this weekend, the choice is yours.
The competition will run for a fortnight.