Former Burnside councillor Lance Bagster bullied and harassed staff, State Ombudsman finds
FORMER Burnside councillor Lance Bagster “bullied and harassed” several council officers — including the mayor David Parkin — over an eight-month period last year, the State Ombudsman has found.
FORMER Burnside councillor Lance Bagster “bullied and harassed” several council officers — including the mayor David Parkin — over an eight-month period last year, the State Ombudsman has found.
Mr Bagster, who resigned in August, was found to have engaged in “inappropriate and offensive” communications with elected members Henry Davis and Mark Osterstock and the council’s chief executive officer, Paul Deb, between March 1 and October 25.
Ombudsman Wayne Lines found Mr Bagster committed 12 acts of misconduct, which were deemed a “risk to health and safety” and “an appalling course of behaviour”.
The report recommended his position on Burnside Council was “no longer tenable” and that he be disqualified from being a councillor for up to five years.
“Cr Bagster has sought to characterise his conduct as being in the greater interests of ratepayers,” Mr Lines said in the report.
“He is wrong. His conduct has … resulted in an enormous waste of public resources.
“His behaviour has been entirely self-centred and counter-productive … (and) falls far short of reasonable community expectations.”
In a submission to the investigation, Mr Parkin said Mr Bagster’s conduct had “a significant negative impact upon the wellbeing of council staff”.
Mr Bagster has nominated for the Kensington Gardens and Magill ward at the upcoming local government election, despite informing Local Government Minister Stephan Knoll last month that a “terrible culture” existed at Burnside.
Mr Lines recommended the council lay a complaint in the District Court if he was re-elected on November 10 and did not resign within seven days.
The council told The Advertiser last week legal action against Mr Bagster had come “to an end” after he eventually apologised on August 15 for two code-of-conduct breaches.
The council said it had been forced to take legal action against Mr Bagster after he missed two deadlines to apologise for the breaches, as ordered by Mr Lines.
Mr Lines also found Mr Bagster broke the code by divulging confidential information and refusing to leave the chamber during a meeting last May.
Mr Knoll said he would consider Mr Lines’ recommendations that the Local Government Act be reviewed, after the report found “the existing statutory framework appeared ill-equipped” to deal with poor conduct from elected members.
Mr Bagster claimed his submissions in relation to the investigation were ignored and disregarded, and that he considered Mr Lines’ findings to be “grossly unfair and unjust”.
“It should not be the job of the Ombudsman to join in petty political squabbles at the local government level, but this is exactly what they have done,” he said.