The Town of Port Hedland council has been dissolved by Local Government Minister Hannah Beazley, with Jessica Shaw, Martin Aldridge, and Ron Yuryevich tasked with fixing the troubled jurisdiction.
Ms Beazley confirmed on Tuesday the Pilbara council would be placed into administration for the second time in six years.
The three commissioners will run a ruler over the council until March 2026, with Ms Shaw as chair and Mr Aldridge as deputy.
Ms Beazley said reducing the quorum to allow the council to sit until the October election would not have fairly represented the community.
"I have acted as quickly as humanly possible to select three highly qualified and experienced commissioners to provide stability and good governance to the town of Port Hedland," she said.
"My main priority is to see a well functioning, stable and effective local council that puts the interests of the community first.
"Crucial to that is to make sure we have high quality candidates nominate for council when that time comes, and for people to turn out to vote in this March."
The commissioners will not live in Port Hedland during their appointment, but will visit at ratepayers' expense.
Former Port Hedland mayor Kelly Howlett had put her hand up for the job, but was not chosen, with Ms Beazley preferring "fresh eyes".
Ms Shaw (Labor) and Mr Aldridge (Nationals) both served in state parliament until the March state election, where they did not recontest.
Mr Yuryevich is best known for his nearly two decades service as the City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder's mayor. He was appointed commissioner for the shires of Wiluna, Narrogin, Geraldton and Wyndham-East Kimberley.
Dubbed a "fixer", Mr Yuryevich was picked to mentor the Town of Port Hedland council in 2018 after years of fighting between them and the Town administration.
Five months later he recommended sacking the entire council. That council was put into administration soon after Mr Yuryevich's suggestion.
Background
The Town of Port Hedland council has been plagued by years of infighting between diametrically opposed factions aligned with the mayor, Peter Carter, and former mayor, Camilo Blanco.
Among controversies plaguing the Port Hedland council were its support for a COVID vaccine conspiracy, opposed by Mr Carter, councillor Adrian McRae’s praise for Russian president Vladimir Putin, a defamation battle between Mr Carter and Mr Blanco, a no confidence motion against Mr Carter, lewd behaviour by Mr Carter during a school board meeting, and an inability to pass this year’s budget.
Ms Beazley said the three commissioners would be appointed until March 2026.
Her decision follows the resignation of four councillors and Mayor Peter Carter over the past year due to what most of them described as a toxic workplace within council.
Mr Carter last week told Business News he quit because not doing so risked the council being hijacked by extremists at the October local government election.
“There was a whole bunch of people, of extremists, that were basically going to try and take over the whole chamber,” he said.
Mr Carter had lobbied for a four-year administration.
Regional Development Minister Stephen Dawson, whose affiliation with Port Hedland spans back to when Labor was in opposition, said last week a commissioner should be installed for as long as possible.
Ms Beazley said six months was "as long as possible".
"The compressed timeframe is one of the reasons that three commissioners have been appointed so they can manage that workload as quickly and efficiently as possible," she said.
"In terms of the timing of the appointments that is largely governed by the rigidity of the Act, which means that they can only be appointed until a practical date for a special election is determined by the Western Australian Electoral Commission.
"I would encourage members of the town of Port Hedland to nominate. They have gone through a lot of dysfunction and discord that hasn't resulted in the best outcomes for their community."
Ms Beazley said there was nothing stopping members of the disbanded council, nor the mayor, from running again in March.
The remaining four councillors in the past week have argued via alternative media channels that disbanding of the council was a political hit-job aided by mainstream media because the Labor Party did not like Mr Blanco or his allies, and was acting in the interests of miners.
Ms Beazley said that was not true.
Deputy mayor Ash Christensen, Mr Blanco, Mr McRae, and Lorraine Butson have as of Tuesday’s decision by Ms Beazley been removed from their roles as councillors.
Port Hedland is the third council to be placed under the watch of commissioners this year.
Three commissioners led by ex-WA Planning Commission chairman David Caddy were placed in charge of the City of Nedlands in July.
Former Kimberley Development Commission chief executive Jeff Gooding took carriage of the Shire of Derby-West Kimberley in April following the resignation of five councillors in the Kimberley jurisdiction.
And the Shire of Coolgardie may soon follow suit, with Ms Beazley telling the council to prove why it should not be suspended last week.
The council has about two weeks left to do so.
