Booth resigns from the Town Council

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By KIERAN FINNANE
 
UPDATED 8.58pm: 
 
Councillor Geoff Booth, embroiled in a scandal over an escort agency application, resigned from the Town Council at 4.58pm today.
 
No further action will being taken by the council on the report looking at whether Cr Booth was indeed residing in Alice Springs and whether he had brought council into disrepute with his escort agency plans.
 
In an email to CEO Rex Mooney, read to the meeting tonight,  Cr Booth cited expanding business interests as restricting his ability to serve the community. He regretted not being able to pursue as councillor a number of strategies which he felt would benefit the town. He signed off: “Good governance.”
 
The resignation is effective immediately. Mr Mooney will advise the Department of Local Government and other relevant authorities tomorrow, the first in a number of administrative steps leading to a by-election.
 
Council had prepared the chamber for a large number of visitors but the normal seating in the public gallery could have accommodated the 20 or so who came. There were no questions to the council from the public on the subject of Cr Booth. Among those in the gallery were people who have sought public office in the past, such as Leo Abbott and Phil Walcott. Certainly more media than usual attended the meeting –  an ABC TV crew, CAAMA, the editor of the Centralian Advocate.
 
Pictured, top: Former Cr Booth’s empty seat at the Town Council meeting this evening. • During his swearing-in.
 
UPDATE, October 1, 2013, 9.32 am:
 
The full text of Cr Booth’s resignation is as follows:-
 
Dear Mr. Mooney,
 
I hereby tender my resignation as Councillor effective immediately.
 
My business interests have expanded since my election in 2011 and the time required to perform these duties is restricting my ability to serve the Alice Springs Community.
 
It is extremely disappointing to leave before my term had expired as I had several  strategies to table which could have provided better outcomes and services for Alice Springs.
 
Thank you again and good governance.
 
Regards
Geoff Booth
 
The Alice Springs News Online asked CEO Rex Mooney whether he intends to pursue setting up a register of councillors’ and executive officers’ business and property interests , as foreshadowed in his report to council on the Booth issues. He says a report on the matter will go to the October committee meetings.
 
 
 

8 COMMENTS

  1. The 2012 council election’s Gang of Four is looking a little disunited and tarnished. Brown went to some lengths to distance himself from his erstwhile fellow “gang member” Booth before Boothy jumped off the gravy train.
    Who will be the next tank engine to jump the tracks?
    Damien must be enjoying a quiet chuckle – the far right revolution which went to such extraordinary lengths to unseat him and which succeeded in polarising Alice Springs in a way never seen before has descended into a predictable farce.

  2. Sorry to disappoint Bob, but the elected council has been operating as a united body for some time now. They understand the importance of working for the community.

  3. Oh, and Steve and I were members of action for Alice but never in the executive. That was Geoff, Alistair from Imparja and Andrea who was manager of the Memo Club when it closed its doors.

  4. What scandal? Typical of the small minded holier-than-thou tossers in Alice.
    Was this an illegal venture being planned? No. This town really is going down tube.

  5. OMG. Listened to Eli Melky show today and the discussion by both Eli and Graham was both repulsive and condescending. Their verbal tirade on the free speech of anyone other than themselves was loud and clear. By attempting to include the rep from the Advocate in their own personal attack on other media in town is both hypocritical and obscene. Your choice of music on Monday was tasteless and totally inappropriate.
    Everyone has the right to an opinion on this Geoff booth fiasco.
    You can always voice against or for either way what you did was to insult and attack someone you did not like their comment.
    I personally thought the comment was relevant could have been written in a softer way (like the way I wrote it).
    But I love free speech and I will always welcome debate on many subjects as Erwin knows.

  6. As a follow-up to an earlier comment (September 26) I made on this topic, it’s interesting to note that Geoff Booth’s resignation as councillor was almost 32 years to the day (September 28, 1981) when Dan Kilgariff was ruled ineligible in a Local Court hearing from continuing as an alderman on the Alice Springs Town Council on the grounds of his residential address being just outside the local municipal boundary.
    This prompted a by-election held on November 21, 1981, which was won by Herman Weber – it will be interesting to see how close to this date the forthcoming by-election will be.

  7. Well Cr. Melky could not control his need to drag on the Geoff Booth saga on his radio show. He rang Tracy and asked her to give her story about Minnie Maid. And then put on this Cr hat and again the I am on this side. Now I am on this side and others like myself all agree Cr Melky has no idea what his view is so that is why he is all sides. All I heard on Tuesday was blah blah blah. Radio broadcasting laws – I may have to read up on them. When people who pay to run a programm suddenly use that licence to promote prostitution …

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