The Combined Chambers of Commerce of the Tweed Shire held a meeting last night where some of the community's leading lights called for an inquiry into Mr Keenan's demise.
Rumours of a rift between Mayor Barry Longland and the council's top bureaucrat culminated in a Thursday night coup, where councillors voted 4-3 to axe Mr Keenan.
The Chamber of Commerce called for Mr Keenan to be reinstated, for the councillors behind Mr Keenan's dismissal to be sacked and for an independent inquiry into the process.
Suggestion from the business community that councillors be dismissed over the incident has sent a cold shiver through the bureaucracy at Tweed Shire Council, with the region still smarting from the sacking of the council back in 2005.
Cr Longland yesterday did not return calls to the Bulletin but previously blamed the "fractured relationship" between Mr Keenan and council members for his termination.
"The relationship between the general manager and the elected body was one that was fractured and no longer functional," Cr Longland said last week.
However, Combined Tweed Chambers of Commerce spokesman Rory Curtis yesterday claimed the dismissal may not be lawful given two members who voted to terminate Mr Keenan faced code of conduct breaches.
"The Mayor's reasons were breathtakingly obscure and the community needs an explanation," Mr Curtis said.
"This council is dysfunctional and some members seem to be acting in their own self-interest, not in the interests of the community."
It is understood Mr Keenan's sudden demise came after a heated argument with the Mayor over Leda Developments' two massive projects on the Tweed, and a suggestion the general manager had investigated claims made by the developer against council officers and councillors.
Ratepayers will now have to wear the council's decision, with much of Mr Keenan's salary, believed to be about $300,000 a year, having to be paid out.
"As far as the business community is concerned, there are no grounds for the general manager's removal, and the Mayor needs to address the community concerns," Mr Curtis said.
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