Conduct caution for Lord Mayor

JESSICA HOWARD AND JAMES KITTO

HOBART’S Lord Mayor will be cautioned by a code of conduct panel after having been found to have caused a former alderman offence and embarrassment.

Former alderman Tanya Denison lodged the complaint alleging that in a newsletter article Anna Reynolds gave incorrect information and knowingly misrepresented her.

The information related to ongoing discussions around Cr Reynolds’ voting record on residential developments.

The code of conduct panel found the Lord Mayor had breached the part of the code which required elected members to treat all people fairly and not cause any reasonable person offence or embarrassment.

“What Cr Reynolds did in her newsletter article was criticise the standard of debate in the local government context, characterising some in the debate as ‘shouting invective’ condemning ‘their rivals as part of performing to their own tribe’ and ‘slagging off’,” the panel found.

“She went on to say ‘a recent example of this was a post on 10 July by my colleague Ald Tanya Denison’.

“Cr Reynolds clearly caused Ms Denison offence and embarrassment.

“The panel acknowledges this was the first complaint against Cr Reynolds and the breach of the code that was upheld was of a lesser level of seriousness … however as mayor she has a leadership role within council and it is reasonable to expect her to ensure her public statements treat people fairly and are not offensive or embarrassing.”

The panel decided to caution Cr Reynolds.

Ms Denison said the panel and Lord Mayor had known about the complaint being partially upheld for three months before the findings were released.

Cr Reynolds said she was glad to see the panel dismiss five of the seven claims made against her.

“I think it’s another example to reform the code of conduct process, in that elected members, who have a difference of opinions, should be required to have a conversation and mediation before a code of conduct process is launched,” she said.

“In this instance, the first I knew about Ms Denison’s concerns was via the code of conduct panel and no attempt was made to resolve the matter with me or even raise the concern with me first.”