Historical society president accuses council of bias
South Otago Historical Society president Kevin Barron is accusing the Clutha District Council of bias against him in denying his group’s roll-over request for unspent curator’s wages.
At a meeting at Balclutha on Thursday the council moved that the society, which runs the South Otago Museum, give back $14,353 of unused funds that would have paid the curator, who left the position in February.
In emails to The Southland Times yesterday, Balclutha-born Christchurchbased Barron, who is taking the council to court over his ousting in May from a town hall committee because of lack of transparency, said this was the second case of the council not supporting the museum.
While the council had provided a $42,800 community grant for the curator’s salary, it had turned down an annual $35,000 request in the long-term plan decisions in May.
However, the council chief executive Steve Hill said there was no disinterest in the museum or ill-will towards Barron. Barron said the decision on Thursday was not only further indication of disinterest in the museum but showed that the council had a problem with him personally.
In his email he states: ‘‘The Owaka Museum received $18,000 in additional funds this year, so again the CDC should come out and say that they are not interested in maintaining the Heritage of the Clutha District or is it while Kevin Barron is involved we will not support them [the historical society]?’’ In an email yesterday, Clutha district chief executive Steve Hill refuted any suggestion of the council’s disinterest in the museum or ill-will towards Barron at the council meeting: ‘‘There was was no such discussion about what Kevin is suggesting.’’
The Southland Times reported on Thursday that Clutha district mayor Bryan Cadogan had said the matter was ‘‘clear-cut’’; the funding in the 2016-2017 Clutha District Combined Museum Group budget was to pay the curator, and the curator had departed, and the funding period had elapsed, therefore the funding had to returned.
Some councillors were in favour of a roll-over of funds as the society suggested, but were out voted.
The society was free to come back to the council with a request for the funds, he said.
All the decisions compromised the museum’s future, and left the society with a reduced means of paying a curator, Barron said.
He said he was not told of the meeting, and had he known he would have been there.
Hill said in his email that the staff member who could comment on this, who had written the report tabled at the meeting (community support and development advisor Jean Proctor), was away until Monday .