In January 1997, the Mayor of Gosford, Tony Sansom, was briefly threatened with dismissal from office when a Magistrate ordered that he be removed from office as a result of litigation that alleged irregularities in moving the dates of the September 1996 mayoral election. However, Sansom, who described the magristrates ruling as "bizarre" appealed the decision to the Supreme Court. On 4 July 1997, the Supreme Court overturned the magistrate's ruling, with Justice Michael Grove noting that the ruling was an "error of law".