A south-east Queensland Mayor charged with drink driving says she will temporarily step aside from her duties while her matter is before the courts.
Redland City Council Mayor Karen Williams was charged on Saturday morning for allegedly being more than three times over the limit when she crashed her car on June 23.
On Saturday night, Ms Williams confirmed she would seek to take a period of unpaid leave, after road safety advocates and politicians called for her resignation.
In a statement, she told the ABC: "On Monday I will seek to take a period of unpaid leave from council until my matter is dealt with by the courts."
Ms Williams is due to appear in the Cleveland Magistrates Court on August 1.
"I will undertake this personal leave to respond to the police charge and to receive counselling."
"I again apologise for my actions and the toll they have taken on my community," Ms Williams said.
Ms Williams described her actions as a "serious personal error of judgement" and said she had received abuse since the incident.
"While not excusing my actions in any way, the death threats and serious abuse I have received this past week have also taken a heavy toll on my family and staff."
Earlier in the day, Queensland's Local Government Minister Steven Miles said he would seek advice on whether he had the power to "sack or suspend" Ms Williams after she was charged with drink driving.
Mr Miles, who also serves as Deputy Premier, said advice from his department based on previous evidence did not "trigger" the power for him to intervene.
"The advice I have thus far from my department is that while that behaviour might not be appropriate it does not trigger those integrity offences which would either provide me with justification to sack or suspend an elected mayor."
But he said based on the new charge and that Ms Williams allegedly returned a 0.177 per cent blood alcohol concentration, he will be seeking additional advice.
"Given those two new facts, I will now seek new advice from my department about whether that materially changes their advice to me about what action would be appropriate," he said.
He said Ms Williams should at the "very least step aside until the court processes are completed."
"I think the mayor should consider what her community would think and I think her community would be saying her position now is untenable and she should make the right decision and resign."
Deputy Liberal National Party leader Jarrod Bleijie said the alleged blood alcohol concentration "was concerning".
"Particularly when the mayor had been talking about a campaign on tougher sentences for drink driving in a Zoom meeting, I think it is quite clear the position is untenable."
Local Government Association of Queensland chief executive Alison Smith said mayors were "elected by the community to serve the community".
"It should therefore be for the community to decide whether or not they should remain when casting their vote at the next election," Alison Smith said.
'I made a mistake'
Ms Williams crashed at an intersection in Cleveland, in Brisbane's bayside, on June 23 at 9pm, hours after the budget had officially been handed down.
Her Lexus veered off the road, through a fence and struck a tree.
Ms Williams, 55, was the only one in the car and was not seriously injured, but was taken to hospital for assessment.
Before the crash, the Mayor had a video call with the families of drink driving victims.
It was the first meeting between the Mayor and Judy Lindsay, whose daughter Hayley was killed by a drink driver a decade ago.
The Mayor has also recently led a parliamentary petition urging a longer sentence for an 18-year-old man convicted of manslaughter over the 2021 deaths of Matthew Field and Kate Leadbetter.
In the days following the crash, Ms Williams admitted to driving after drinking and said she made "a serious error of judgement" but would not stand down as mayor.
She did however step down from the board of the Brisbane Olympics.
"I am deeply sorry for my actions and am incredibly thankful no-one else was involved or injured," she said.
"I made a mistake, I will learn from that mistake, and I will continue to serve my community as I have for the last 18 years."
But Ms Williams said she could not recall how many drinks she'd had the night of the accident.
"I don't actually know how many drinks I had. I had several drinks over a number of hours," she said.
Transport Minister Mark Bailey said Ms Williams should resign, adding that her "reckless disregard for the lives of everyone on her local roads is now clear".
State MP for Capalaba Don Brown joined calls: "time to end this circus Karen".
