Council General Manager Viv May, was appointed to manage the affairs of the Council in the interim. On 18 February the administrator reversed decisions for two major developments that were set to benefit Mehajer. The former Liberal mayor, Ronney Oueik, later appeared before the state government public inquiry conducted by Commissioner Richard Beasley SC, and denied suggestions that he had shown favouritism in several planning decisions, as well as opposing developments of political opponents. Oueik later sued NSW opposition leader (and Member for Auburn), Luke Foley, whom he had stood against as the Liberal candidate at the 2015 election, for defamation following Foley's comments to media that he had represented "self-interest, not community interest" during his time as mayor. This defamation suit was thrown out of court in October 2017. In April 2018, Mehajer was convicted on multiple counts of electoral fraud relating to his election at the 2012 Auburn Council election. He was sentenced on 22 June 2018 to 21 months in prison with a non-parole period of 11 months. 2016 amalgamations A 2015 review of local government boundaries by the NSW Government Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal recommended that the City of Auburn merge with adjoining councils. The government considered two proposals. The first proposed a merger of parts of Auburn, Holroyd and Parramatta to form a new council with an area of and support a population of approximately 219,000. The second proposed a merger of parts of Parramatta, Auburn, The Hills, Hornsby, and Holroyd to form a new council with an area of and support a population of approximately 215,725. On 12 May 2016, Auburn City Council was abolished by the NSW Government. Parts of Auburn City Council (south of the M4 Western Motorway) and Parramatta City Council (Woodville Ward), and Holroyd City Council merged to form the Cumberland Council as a new local government area. The remainder of the Auburn City Council area north of the M4 Western Motorway (including parts of the Sydney Olympic Park) was merged into the City of Parramatta Council. At the last meeting of the Cumberland Council to be held at the Auburn Civic Centre on 21 December 2016, with the council chambers being taken over by the Auburn Library, the Administrator, Viv May, noted: Suburbs in the local government area Suburbs within the Auburn City boundaries immediately prior to its abolition were: Auburn Berala Lidcombe Newington Regents Park (With parts