Council conduct under scrutiny
THE Gold Coast City Council is facing a wave of serious complaints involving its city councillors sparking expensive internal investigations.
Hinterland-based councillor Glenn Tozer, concerned the investigator would be the mayor or “the mayoral office”, believes an “independent” person should assess any allegations of inappropriate conduct.
“In light of all of the intent of the local government reform package, it is best that someone who is not an elected representative deal with these,” Cr Tozer told colleagues yesterday at full council.
The Bulletin can reveal at least six cases of suspected inappropriate conduct have been sent by the Independent Assessor to council for further investigation.
A report to council suggests that a budget of $150,000 be created in 2019-20 to cover the costs of investigations.
“If this rate of referral continues it is possible that council will be dealing with approximately 20 to 25 inappropriate conduct referrals each year, all requiring formal investigation under the draft policy,” the report said.
The council is required to pay the costs of the Councillor Conduct Tribunal into hearings for alleged misconduct where a local government requests the tribunal to investigate.
“These costs will not be insignificant and are estimated at between $10,000 and $12,000 per individual matter,” the report said.
Mayor Tom Tate told councillors a report to council showed other local authorities had their mayor appointed as an investigator or to oversee the inquiry.
“We certainly stand by the recommendation and the rationale behind it. I can understand why councillors may have a different view,” council CEO Dale Dickson said.
“It’s not a straightforward matter. One key thing I think that Cr Tozer has raised is the potential involvement of the office of the mayor as distinct from the mayor of the day managing a complaint. The office of the mayor has no role in the investigation of a complaint, that is a very fine distinction.”
Cr Tozer put forward a motion that the manager of integrity and ethical standards be the appointed investigator, but he only gained support from Peter Young, Dawn Crichlow, Paul Taylor and Daphne McDonald.
A check of the Councillor Conduct Register, which is online, shows almost 70 complaints since December.
The complaints range from alleged corruption to conflicts of interest regarding planning matters, or inappropriate conduct at meetings.
The tribunal found most of those matters listed did not involve inappropriate conduct, and in a few cases, were being dealt with or had been considered by the Crime and Corruption Commission.