Seeds of discontent

The seeds of discontent were sown during Michael Feyen’s time as a councillor.

In October 2014, a year after Ross Campbell and Feyen were voted in, they were sidelined in a committee reshuffle that left them feeling personally attacked.

Then-mayor Brendan Duffy said four of the six new councillors integrated into the council well, but two had not.

Remaining as outsiders, Campbell and Feyen were the only two councillors to abstain from endorsing a financial performance report in November 2014.

In April 2015, Feyen claimed the ‘‘poorly constructed’’ council building had dropped 10 centimetres in the southern end and was laden with cracks.

In March 2016, a complaint was laid against Campbell for calling the council ‘‘corrupt". Campbell alleged raw sewage was being pumped from the Shannon Wastewater Treatment Plant into the Mangaore Stream – claims David Clapperton called a ‘‘complete distortion of facts’’. Campbell denies calling the council corrupt, but he was censured.

A month later, Feyen laid two complaints against Duffy and Cr Tony Rush, supported by Campbell. The complaint against Rush was sparked by comments made during a heated debate over the safety of the building.

Rush said he didn’t trust Feyen and Campbell, and he didn’t respect them or like them. The councillors voted against taking action against Rush or Duffy.