Ombudsman slams Brimbank Council ‘misconduct’

• news
  • Local News

07 May 09 @ 11:20am by Michelle Rose and Paula Maud

UPDATE 12.20PM: PROBLEMS at Brimbank Council were “in the past”, its chief executive said today.

Brimbank Council was “dysfunctional” and littered with bullying, in-fighting, conflicts of interest and inappropriate influence from outsiders including Labor MPs, a damning Victorian Ombudsman report found today.

The council was “influenced” by people outside of council, including “individuals who would be, or were in the past, precluded from holding office because of criminal convictions”, Ombudsman George Brouwer found.

Labor MPs Theo Theophanous, Telmo Languiller and George Sietz, Dr Andrew Theophanous - husband of former deputy mayor Kathryn Eriksson - Labor Senator Stephen Conroy and former mayor Natalie Suleyman’s father, Hakki, and campaign manager Craig Otte were named as people who had exercised influence over councillors.

Mr Brouwer found pornography and “inappropriate” software on council laptops of two councillors.

Councillors used ratepayer-funded mobile phones for private use and owed “hundreds, if not thousands”, of dollars.

But the council had never audited councillors’ mobile phone bills.

Some councillors interfered in staffing issues and bullied, pressured and harassed council staff to the point where one worker left and another went on leave, the report found.

A councillor threatened that unless $680,000 was allocated for works at Cairnlea park - a club linked to the councillor’s family – the budget would not be passed. The budget was amended, with funding drawn from other areas, to accommodate the councillor’s request.

Decisions about Keilor Lodge Reserve and the Sydenham Park Soccer Club were “significantly influenced” by people outside the council, Mr Brouwer found.

He said the council’s “ruling faction” had showed it was willing to put the council at financial risk for a “personal vendetta” by instructing the chief executive to withdraw budget funding for works at Keilor Lodge Reserve - even though the action could cost the council more than $100,000 for breach of contract.

Mr Brouwer also listed concerns about gifts bought by the city for the outgoing mayor each year.

“Some councillors chose their own gifts, spending up to $1000. I was concerned to find that Brimbank had no policy to govern the purchasing of what appeared to be lavish gifts,” he said.

Mr Brouwer recommended that Local Government Victoria investigate six councillors for possible breaches of the Local Government Act.

He also recommended that councillors be prohibited from accessing council files.

He stopped short of recommending that councillors be sacked, but said the State Government should closely monitor their activities.

Local Government Minister Richard Wynne said the government accepted all of Mr Brouwer’s recommendations.

Mr Wynne said Brimbank would be “rigorously” monitored and conduct reports would be lodged monthly.

A municipal inspector would be put in place at the Brimbank Council to ensure the Ombudsman’s recommendations were implemented, he said.

Brimbank Council chief executive Nick Foa said the Ombudsman’s report findings and recommendations were clear and would serve as an “excellent learning tool’’ for other councils throughout Victoria.

“I must also say that this is a report on what happened in the past,” he said.

“We have a new council and we are working closely together to ensure that everyone is fully aware of their duties and responsibilities as elected representatives.”

Mr Brouwer found the council had split into two groups - the “ruling faction” and the minority councillors, and that the council was “unable to govern as a whole”.

This “cold war impasse” impeded the council’s ability to function effectively, he said.

Mr Brouwer said lack of understanding of “conflict of interest principles” led to some examples of conflicts of interest.

But other instances reflected “deliberate misconduct on the part of the councillors involved”.

“This included placing their private interests first and using their positions to obtain confidential information,” he said.

Mr Brouwer also reported concerns with councillors working in MPs’ offices.

“I identified two instances where a councillor’s duty to a Member of Parliament impacted upon the performance of the councillor’s public functions,” he said.

A number of councillors were or had been employed by or voluntarily worked for local MPs, including Cr Ken Capar, Cr Suleyman, Cr Costas Socratous and Cr Sam David.

As a result of the review, the State Government will adopt the Ombudsman’s recommendation that councillors or council candidates be banned from working as electorate officers, ministerial advisers or parliamentary advisers.

Sunshine Residents and Ratepayers Association president Darlene Reilly said the influence of Labor MPs had been obvious at Brimbank Council for years.

``We’ve been saying that from day one,” she said.

The people we were complaining to (about councillor behaviour) were in a lot of cases the councillors’ bosses or factional bosses.

``There’s a perception that can be construed when you have an electoral officer sitting on council, they’re pushing other agendas,’’ Ms Reilly said.

The tireless campaigner said SunRRA would be calling for an administrator to run council for the next ten years to ensure the focus was back on the community.

``We believe the culture and problems that beset the previous council still have an influence,’’ she said.

RATEPAYERS VICTORIA, Inc. A0040924M - PO BOX 1057 Huntingdale, Victoria 3166