Clarity on council discipline

AN ARTICLE which ran in The Chronicle on Tuesday, September 5, headlined “Records show three complaints”, was missing some information.

The story was based on information taken from the Toowoomba Regional Council’s disciplinary records.

It stated a complaint was filed against Cr Bill Cahill in 2010 for “being disrespectful to a resident (turned off their mobile phone, refused to take a complaint, talked over the complainant and hung up on the complainant)”.

What The Chronicle forgot to include in the article was that there were no adverse findings given against Cr Cahill because the claim was unable to be substantiated due to lack of evidence.

Also, only two of the three complaints made against councillors were included in the article.

The complaint that was not included was one made against Cr Geoff McDonald in 2015 for not disclosing he had 182 shares in Westfarmers, which owns Bunnings, before voting at a council meeting deciding on the construction of a Bunnings warehouse in Toowoomba.

The Regional Conduct Review Panel determined that the complaint was substantiated, and made an order pursuant to section 180(2)(b) of the Local Government Act 2009, that Cr McDonald make an admission of error. Cr McDonald made the admission of error at the Ordinary Meeting of Council held on December 15, 2015.

The council declined to release the total number of complaints made against councillors over the past eight years, and also declined to comment on why there were so few listed online. The article on The Chronicle website, “Only three complaints made about councillors in eight years”, has been updated to reflect all correct information. We regret the omissions.