She said councillors and staff had for a long period of time been subjected to unacceptable behaviour that would not be tolerated anywhere else in the community.

People who could not control their anger had used the council and staff as a punching bag.

“We have lost a lot of staff, and some of that has definitely been due to this,” she said.

“I have been intimately involved in seeing what has been going on and it has caused a lot of internal stress and sick leave.

“There is a belief that you can kick the guts out of people if they upset you.

“Why are we tolerating it?”

Cr Madacsi said angry, abusive behaviour was also causing people with something to say to feel too timid to speak up.

“We are allowing certain elements of the community to control the rest of the community’s ability to speak, and that is a very sad indictment of us,” she said.

“We have seen what has happened, we have heard what has happened and we have seen the consequences of what has happened.

“It’s not acceptable, as far as I’m concerned, in any civilised society.”

Cr Madacsi said all written correspondence to councillors and staff containing “adverse reflection, denigrating or abusive content” should be “recorded and not dealt with”.

Writers should be informed and given an opportunity to resubmit their correspondence “without the offending material”.

An administration report to the council said vigilance was needed to assess the content and tone of incoming correspondence.

“The risk is insignificant, however this report mitigates the risk,” the report said.

Cr Danielle Wrench told last month’s meeting that it was time for the council to act.

“Some community members show their ire against us – and, of course, they have the right to do so – but it crosses the line by actively engaging in behaviour that is not fair or appropriate to our staff.”

Cr Charmeine Duri said the council had a duty of care to ensure that shire staff were not being bullied verbally or in writing.

In answer to a question on duty of care, Shire CEO Suzie Haslehurst said that she, as the council’s only employee, was the person responsible for the health and safety of all other shire staff under her direction.

“The council can give me the tools to be able to do that more easily,” she said.

Cr John Prater opposed Cr Madacsi’s proposal.

I really don’t see the need for it,” he said.

“What are we going to do?

“Are we going to wipe Facebook out as well – where are we going with it?

“We’re bigger and better than that.”

Cr Steve McCormick said trying to police Cr Madacsi’s proposal would be “quite futile because of the diverse range of communications we now have”.

“I think it’s a real minority where there’s a lack of respect and I don’t think it’s worth building policy around it,” he said.

“Isn’t it a reflection on the person who shows a lack of respect, not the shire?”

President McKeown said the shire code of conduct did not apply to the public, and standing orders applied only to the council.

“We can’t apply that to life,” he said.

“We are obliged under the Local Government Act to represent the interests of all members of the community, not just the polite ones.

“I don’t think we can tell people how to write to the shire.”

Cr Madacsi’s motion was lost 3-4, with Crs Madacsi, Wrench and Duri for, and President McKeown, Deputy President Shelly Dival and Crs McCormick and Prater against.

In the latest attack, one of 10 plaques installed by Toodyay’s Friends of the River on the Bilya Walk Track was damaged.

It was the only plaque dedicated to Aboriginal culture, and the only parts of it vandalised were the words “Aboriginal people” (pictured above) and a Noongar Kaartdijin Aboriginal Corporation logo.

As with the Redbank Pool vandalism two months earlier, it looked like car keys or a screwdriver were used to deface the plaque’s two mentions of the word ‘Aboriginal’.

Toodyay Friends of the River Project Officer Greg Warburton said he believed the same person had carried out both attacks.

The plaque was recently installed by the volunteer organisation to help generate more community understanding of the significance of the Avon River to indigenous people and their connection to it.

Damaging it was an act of “wanton vandalism,” Mr Warburton said.

Friends of the River hoped to replace the damaged plaque next year but Mr Warburton said he feared it might be vandalised again.

The plaque was funded by Wheatbelt Natural Resource Management in conjunction with the Shire of Toodyay and was damaged in the first week of November.

Former deputy president Beth Ruthven lost her re-election bid with 72 votes (4.6 per cent of all primary votes cast), as did former Cr Susan Pearce with 150 votes (9.6 per cent).

Both were beaten by newcomer Ray Mills who polled 174 votes (11.1 per cent) but it was not enough to win him a council seat.

Toodyay’s new seven-member council met two days later to swear in the three newly elected councillors and conduct a secret ballot in the chamber to elect a presiding officer and deputy for the next two years.

Cr Dival, who campaigned on a platform of change, nominated Cr McKeown for shire president, and former president Madacsi announced her intent to re-contest the role.

There were no other candidates.

Cr McKeown won the secret ballot in what was understood to be a 4-3 vote.

Cr Prater then nominated fellow newcomer Cr Dival for deputy president, and sitting Cr Steve McCormick nominated Cr Madacsi.

Cr Madacsi declined the nomination, leaving Cr Dival to be elected unopposed as new Shire Deputy President.

Shire President McKeown closed the meeting after lots were drawn for new seating positions around the council table.

Ms Haslehurst said the contractor gave no explanation for the delay but apologised and provided a discount for the errors.

Tip passes were also missing from some envelopes, prompting the shire to require proof of local residence at the Toodyay recycling depot for free rubbish disposal.

A different contractor had misprinted shire payment notices, omitting the first three digits on some account numbers.

“It was no fault of the shire,” Ms Haslehurst said.”

“The solution is to insert ‘100’ in front of any seven-digit numbers.”