The embattled mayor of Redland City Council has resigned, citing a culture of intimidation and triggering a by-election for the top job at the bayside south-east Queensland council.
Jos Mitchell, who was elected in 2024 after former mayor Karen Williams led the council for 12 years, has been on medical leave since May.
In a statement provided exclusively to this masthead, Mitchell said she felt her electoral victory was not respected, and she was viewed as a challenge to the status quo on a council with an ingrained political culture.
“There have been threats, continuous accusations and harassment, our family’s cars have been vandalised, we’ve had a drone hover over our backyard and my husband and our daughter have been targeted online,” she said.
“There has been a personalised, coordinated and consistent smear campaign, including online abuse and leaks of confidential information to media.”
The Redlands has consistently led the state in the number of councillor conduct complaints to Queensland’s Office of the Independent Assessor. Mitchell has previously said these complaints were used to undermine her politically.
“Following a callout on an anonymous political Facebook page, I have been the subject of an unusually high number of OIA complaints – about 70,” she said in her statement.
“All investigated complaints have been found to be unsubstantiated by external investigators.
“I spent more than a decade with the Queensland Police Service, including as a police prosecutor. I know what intimidation looks like, and I know it shouldn’t be part of public life.”
Mitchell initially indicated she would be on medical leave for six weeks, and her fellow councillors had recently begun to publicly question her absence.
Earlier this month, for the second month in a row, they voted not to accept her leave from the general meeting.
If they were to vote against her leave again in November, her seat would have been automatically vacated.
Before going on leave, Mitchell collapsed at work and had to be taken to hospital. In her statement, she said she had been dealing with a complex health issue.
“I have undergone major surgery and been navigating an autoimmune condition,” she said.
“The experiences of the last two and a half years have had a significant impact on my wellbeing, something many elected representatives have been speaking about.”
Mitchell said she thought the hardships she faced at Redland City Council were widespread across Australian politics generally, and called for a rethink on how newcomers can exist and thrive within a system dominated by party politics.
“I believe Australians are sick of the current state of politics, the power plays, thuggish tactics and pile-ons,” she said.
“There must be room for new representatives who bring new skills, new ways of working and new questions, without retaliation.”
Mitchell thanked her supporters and fellow residents, and urged the council to become “a more collegial workplace for the benefit of council members, staff and those they are there to serve”.
“I leave office with the same core values and beliefs – that Redlands residents deserve high standards of transparency, accountability and community planning,” she said.
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