and tile clay-pits for many years. In July 1968, Eric Black, the chief engineer of Auburn Municipal Council from 1949 to 1979, presented a detailed report to the council on proposing a mixture of sporting grounds and intensive cultivation of the Duck River parklands. Black envisaged a series of gardens representing national styles from around the world. This vision was later reduced, though some elements survived, including the Japanese gardens and lake, the formal gardens and reflection pool, and the different Australian habitats. Construction work on the Botanic Gardens site began in 1969 and involved the excavation of the Japanese Gardens Lake. In 1973, hundreds of trees were planted in the Avenue of Remembrance, Garden of Trees and Woodland area. The gardens were opened by New South Wales governor Sir Roden Cutler on 11 September 1977. City status A project by Auburn Council to seek city status began in April 2006. A special poll held on 13 September 2008 found a large proportion (72.4%) of the electorate supported the project. On 24 June 2009 Governor of New South Wales Marie Bashir issued a proclamation granting Auburn city status, which was gazetted on 17 July 2009 as "Auburn City Council". Council dysfunction and suspension In March 2013, Auburn council voted to dismiss the General Manager since 2005, John Burgess, in a decision derided as entirely political and resulting from the General Manager's release of information relating to the corrupt activities of former Councillor and deputy mayor, Jack Au, to the ICAC, who was subsequently suspended by the Minister for Local Government. On his departure, the general manager noted "I think that there needs to be a high-level policy review to ensure that similar circumstances are not allowed to exist in other councils, [...] All general managers should be objectively assessed based on performance." In 2015–16, council came under increasing scrutiny when the Deputy Mayor, Salim Mehajer was charged with threatening the father of one of the victims in the 2014 Sydney hostage crisis and was investigated over a conflict of interest when he voted on Council matters regarding rezoning despite it being alleged that he had pecuniary interests in those matters. As a result, Mehajer was given a four-month suspension from Council on 29 January 2016. On 10 February 2016, the Council was suspended while a public enquiry into allegations of "councillors misusing their positions" was conducted. An administrator, former Mosman