Wingecarribee Shire Councillors must "get on with job" or prepare for the possibility of being taken over by an administrator.
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That's Goulburn MP Wendy Tuckerman's message ahead of council's extraordinary meeting on Monday afternoon to discuss performance concerns.
Minister for Local Government Shelley Hancock issued the council a notice of intention to issue a performance improvement order last week.
This followed correspondence from Mrs Tuckerman and Wollondilly MP Nathaniel Smith as well as individuals and key Southern Highlands stakeholders.
"If they can't get on with the job, it's time for the minister to make some tough decisions and either put an administrator in, or the other thing I think probably needs to happen is they need to call for early elections. That's my opinion," Mrs Tuckerman said.
"I've spoken to the local government minister on many occasions. She has told me there are lots of issues around local government and a lot of local members talking about their local councils.
"We don't need another year waiting for local government elections, they need to be sooner than September next year. I think we should get on with it, but that's my call and let's see what happens on Monday."
Earlier this month mayor Duncan Gair claimed former general manager Ann Prendergast was "placed under immense and continual strain, intimidation and harassment from certain councillors".
Mayor Gair described the alleged behaviour as "without doubt some of the worst behaviour I have ever witnessed in my time in local government", and said the matter was reported to the Office of Local Government.
Mrs Tuckerman said she believed the allegation was the tipping point for the notice of intention to issue a performance improvement order.
"When you see a senior executive [Ms Prendergast] off on sick leave for those reasons, you need to question what's going on," she said.
"It's about making sure there's a proper working environment for staff."
Mrs Tuckerman said her main concern was the delivery of infrastructure projects for the community.
"We've got a lot of infrastructure projects that need to get off the ground. I want that to be in my term of office," she said.
"My focus is to make sure we have a council that's responding to the needs of the community."
The proposed performance improvement order seeks to address long-term division and conflict among councillors and the associated reputational and work, health and safety risks.
The PIO would focus on councillor training, the conduct of council meetings and mediation to strengthen relationships between elected representatives and prevent dysfunction.
Councillors will consider the correspondence from Shelley Hancock during its extraordinary meeting at 4.30pm on August 24.
The meeting will be live streamed on the Wingecarribee Shire Council Facebook page.
