Tea Tree Gully Council rules out investigating complaint laid against its chief executive by mayor
A northeastern council has refused to investigate a complaint laid against its chief executive, voting instead to call for its mayor to resign for making it public.
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Tea Tree Gully Council has voted not to investigate its chief executive over a complaint lodged by Mayor Kevin Knight.
Elected members met behind closed doors on Monday night to discuss the complaint before passing a motion of no confidence in Mr Knight for making it public.
The councillors voted unanimously to call on Mr Knight to resign and stripped him of all privileges, including access to a personal assistant and office.
They expressed concern that he had chosen to reveal complaints he made against chief executive John Moyle and two senior staff before they were officially notified.
During a confidential discussion about the complaint against Mr Moyle, councillors found it “lacked substance”.
In a resolution read in public by acting chairman Cr Bernie Keane, they decided Mr Moyle had not shown a “lack of respect” towards Mr Knight, as he claimed in the complaint.
The relationship between the two men became strained in October last year when a sexual harassment complaint was lodged against Mr Knight.
The pair had a confrontation in a cafe, during which Mr Knight allegedly swore at Mr Moyle and made an obscene gesture when asked to apologise to a young female staff member he tapped on the backside with rolled up paper.
Mr Knight has disputed making the “two-fingered salute”, despite Mr Moyle confirming it had occurred when asked a question by a councillor during a council meeting in March.
In their resolution, councillors voted to instruct the council’s organisational services and excellence director, Ryan McMahon, to write to Mr Moyle to tell him the complaint would not be investigated.
“Council instructs Mr McMahon to write to Mr Moyle advising it had received a complaint from Mayor Knight, has declined to take any further action and apologises to Mr Moyle for any distress caused by the various media reports,” it said.
The elected members also instructed Mr McMahon to write to Mr Knight, who had left the civic centre and returned home before they debated a motion calling for his resignation.
During a 60-minute debate, various councillors vocallly criticised him for making public the complaints, saying he had brought the council into disrepute.
Their unanimous decision to pass a vote of no confidence followed previous resolutions which removed him as the council’s principal spokesperson and banned him for attending any public events as mayor, including hosting citizenship ceremonies.
The councillors on Monday night also voted to remove all privileges from Mr Knight, including access to an office at the Modbury civic centre, a personal assistant and official stationery.
The locks on the office will be changed when Mr Knight has removed his personal belongings.
Mr Knight, who has been a councillor since 1993 and has served two terms as mayor, spent Tuesday considering his options, including obtaining legal advice.
He has yet to make an announcement on whether he will step aside, which will force a $100,000 council-wide by election to find a replacement before the 2022 local government elections.