NEW CCC COMPLAINT
Mayor Tate accused of directing CEO to lay off senior staff member
THE Crime and Corruption Commission has received a fresh complaint about the conduct of Mayor Tom Tate.
Emails from a council based complainant to CCC chair Alan MacSporran allege Cr Tate directed council CEO Dale Dickson not to discipline a senior staff member.
The complaint follows CCC investigations into allegations the Mayor misled council with false comments, sought to gain personally from the sale of the Bruce Bishop car park and was solely responsible for Mr Dickson’s contract while he and business partners were negotiating to buy council land.
TOM Tate is accused of directing council CEO Dale Dickson not to discipline a senior staffer, according to a complaint to the Crime and Corruption Commission.
Emails from a councilbased complainant to CCC chair Alan MacSporran, in October and again in February, allege Mr Dickson received direction from Mayor Tate regarding the employee.
The complainant told the CCC the CEO had been investigating complaints about the staff member, and he had allegedly progressed to the point where he believed disciplinary action was justified.
“Mr Dickson then received a directive from the Mayor not to pursue that disciplinary action,” the complainant wrote.
The complainant recalled a conversation with the CEO in which he asked how he could legitimately pursue an investigation.
The complainant later wrote to the Local Government Minister’s chief of staff, who confirmed that the matter would be reported.
The complainant was advised it was also appropriate that the CCC be alerted.
In a reply, the CCC confirmed it had received an email from the council complainant on October 5.
In the February email to Mr MacSporran, the complainant wrote: “Whereas I am aware some of these matters are in the domain of the Department of Local Government, I am conscious of the fact that the CCC is investigating a number of matters related to the City of Gold Coast. Regardless, I believe that the CCC’s direct involvement is required in regard to the mayoral directive to stop the CEO pursuing disciplinary action ...”
The Bulletin has learned a councillor this week filed a separate complaint on the mayoral directives to the Local Government Department.
The staff member alleged to have faced discipline did not wish to comment yesterday.
Asked if he had directed Mr Dickson at any time not to pursue disciplinary action against a staff member, the Mayor replied: “I respect the confidentiality of the CCC.”
Mr Dickson, when asked if he had obtained legal advice to support his position that he was entitled to take disciplinary action, replied: “I will cooperate with the CCC if, and when, required”.
Asked what action he subsequently took regarding the matter, he said: “I do not publicly comment on staffing matters.”
The issue of mayoral directives began to be discussed pri-
between council officers and councillors from September last year.
It was sparked by Cr William Owen-Jones issuing a Question on Notice and obtaining a confidential full list of mayoral directives (see time line opposite).
The Helensvale-based councillor yesterday told the
Bulletin: “I have not made a complaint to either the Department of Local Government, or the CCC regarding mayoral directives.”
Cr Owen-Jones was the chair of the governance committee when Cr Glenn Tozer, who had concerns about mayoral directives, raised them at a meeting in early December last year.
Cr Tozer was initially successful with a motion to get the CEO to review all directives. He sought that the CEO’s assessment of the complaint be provided to the Director-General of the Department of Local Government and an attachment of directives remain confidential.
Cr Tozer was supported in committee by Cr Owen-Jones and Cr Daphne McDonald, but
his motion failed when a “super majority” of councillors voted against him at a full council meeting.
A Bulletin report this month revealed some mayoral directives may have conflicted with council policies and councillors were kept in the dark on some of them.
An attempt by the Bulletin through Right to Information to get all 42 mayoral directives from March 2016 to December 2017 failed, with refusal of two documents which “contain details referencing employees of the council of the city of Gold Coast”.
Mr Dickson, at the time, was sent questions with specific details about complaints but declined to respond, saying: “I don’t comment publicly on staffing matters.”
But the Bulletin has obtained fresh documents which show in late February that the CCC received a complaint about mayoral directives and was provided with a copy of all directives from November 22, 2012, to November 1, 2017.
The complainant referred
the CCC to four matters including a directive on December 7, 2015, from the Mayor not to issue a show cause notice against the staffer.
“To the best of my knowledge, this is despite the CEO having legal advice supporting his position that he was entitled to pursue disciplinary action in accordance with council policy,” the complainant wrote.
The complainant is waiting for a response to the most recent submission.
The Bulletin approached Cr Tozer, who confirmed this week he had sent a complaint to the Local Government Department, after he had failed with his motion before councillors. He has not contacted the CCC.
“I referred my concerns about those issues to the Department of Local Government on a personal basis,” he said.
“I’ve been informed those matters are being considered.”
Cr Tozer said he would not discuss “the nature of the matters”.