‘AS BAD AS EVER’
Complaints to corruption watchdog amid claims council behaviour at all-time low
THE strife-plagued City of Greater Geelong has been plunged into further turmoil, with the culture, behaviour and morale within City Hall at a historic low, the Australian Services Union says.
It is also understood a number of complaints about the organisation have been lodged with the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission.
As City Hall prepares for a return to democracy after 18 months under administration, ASU organiser Dave Walmsley warned incoming councillors “that things are as bad as they’ve ever been”.
distrust that has built for such a long time,” it said.
“It has become obvious that although many staff remain committed to their jobs, there is a pervasive anxiety and suspicion in many parts of the organisation.”
Chief administrator Kathy Alexander has spelled out how much work remains to meet the inquiry’s recommendations.
“The platform is built, but the walls aren’t really up and the roof’s not even designed,” Dr Alexander said.
“There’s still lots to build, lots to do to build the organisation.”
Speaking at her final council meeting in charge last week, she praised the staff’s productivity.
At the same meeting, Mr Spiller said the council “had changed just about
everything” through the period of administration.
“We’ve had high activity in terms of personal workloads; we’ve had high activity in relation to organisational change; we’ve re-strategised, we’ve restructured, and we’ve looked at just about every aspect (of the organisation) we can,” he said.
But when faced with questions from the Geelong Advertiser this week, the council went to ground.
“The City of Greater Geelong is unable to comment on this query in line with the Local Government Act’s council election (caretaker) provisions,” a spokesman said.
“As per normal practice, the City will not discuss private personnel matters relating to staff.”
It also refused to talk about its three-member Complaint Review Panel, made up of Ms Halliday, Mr Spiller and HR executive manager Andrew Keen.
The Geelong Advertiser asked how many complaints had been resolved and how many remained active.
“It is also inappropriate to comment on the specific activities of the Complaint Review Panel as the work of the panel concerns the privacy of individuals,” it said.
In the administrators’ quarterly reports, published on the council’s website, it has provided progress reports on the panel’s activities. By June — 16 months after being set up — the panel had resolved 57 matters.