Tea Tree Gully mayor Kevin Knight publicly apologises for shouting at election rival Paul Barbaro
A MAYOR has publicly apologised for shouting at his election rival during a council meeting, before questioning his relationship with a developer and a bid by his brother to sell a block of land for housing. LISTEN TO THE OUTBURST | READ THE FULL APOLOGY
- Family of councillor Paul Barbaro abandons bid to sell land at Golden Grove
- Tea Tree Gully mayor Kevin Knight shouts at election rival Paul Barbaro
A MAYOR has apologised for shouting at his election rival during a council meeting, before questioning his relationship with a developer and a bid by his brother to sell a block of land for housing.
Tea Tree Gully Council mayor Kevin Knight sought leave during last week’s council meeting to make a statement in which he publicly apologised for raising his voice at Cr Paul Barbaro, who is standing against him at next month’s elections.
Mr Knight told the meeting he was sorry if the incident– reported by NorthEastern Weekly – had offended anyone, including several residents who attended the meeting to speak about the closure of a road beside a Golden Grove shopping centtre, The Stables.
“I unreservedly apologise to anyone who was offended,” he said. “The last thing I would ever want to do is bring this chamber which I have been a member of for 20 years into disrepute.
“I have endeavoured at all times to be fair and impartial and I have believe I have achieved that.”
Mr Knight then questioned the relationship between Cr Barbaro and one of the residents who witnessed the exchange and was quoted by NorthEastern Weekly expressing his disappointment.
Mr Knight asked whether the resident, Joseph Carbone, was related to Golden Grove developer Joey Carbone, who had attended two meetings with council staff and Cr Barbaro over planning issues.
“Councillors, one of the first lessons learned in being a councillor is to tread carefully with ‘development issues’ and any relationship with developers,” he said.
Mr Knight then questioned why the closure of Crouch Rd next to The Stables in 2013 had “suddenly” become an election issue after it “has lain dormant for five years”.
He asked why 53ha of land near the shopping centre jointly owned by a company run by the brother of Cr Barbaro had been put on the market several months ago and then “quickly withdrawn” 24 hours after inquiries by NorthEastern Weekly.
“Fellow councillors, there has been a lot said in this chamber recently about openness, transparency and accountability,” he said.
“In light of recent developments, I feel the residents of the city deserve more information and the truth about this whole issue.”
Mr Knight said he was considering referring some matters to the Office of Public Integrity for investigation.
Cr Barbaro was not present for Mr Knight’s speech, having gone home early after declaring a perceived conflict of interest over a notice of motion about the land involving his brother.
During the subsequent discussion, council chief executive John Moyle was asked if reopening Crouch Rd would have a beneficial impact on its value of the land, located 1.6km from The Stables between Para Valley Rd and One Tree Hill Rd.
Mr Moyle said the land could not be offered for residential development as it was within the Hills Face Zone, where housing was prohibited. However, should the situation change in future – which was highly unlikely – then reopening the road would be “advantageous” as it would provide an alternative entry point to The Stables.
Asked several times by NorthEastern Weekly to comment before deadline, Cr Barbaro said he did not know what Mr Knight had said in detail and so was not in a position to respond.
Mr Knight refused to provide Cr Barbaro with a copy of his speech, saying he would have heard it first-hand if he had not gone home early.
WHAT TEA TREE GULLY MAYOR KEVIN KNIGHT SAID
Councillors, I was going to ask standing orders to be suspended but I don’t think they need to be now but I seek your leave to make a public apology and personal statement in relation to my behaviour at the last council meeting held on the 25th of September, 2018.
I am sure you will have seen and read the story ‘War of Words’ on the front page of last week’s NorthEastern Weekly Messenger that with some justification was critical of me.
Some residents have expressed disappointment. To be honest I have had a very busy weekend and the reaction to that article has been mixed but some people have expressed some disappointment in me and I accept that.
So I would like to take this opportunity to make a public apology to those residents. I do not shy away from criticism and I am always prepared to admit my mistakes and make the appropriate response which, in this case, warrants this public apology. I unreservedly apologise to anyone who was offended.
I would also like to apologise to all of you because the article I think not only reflected on me and I take it on the chin but I think that article also reflected on the chamber and the last thing I would ever want to do is bring this chamber, that I have been a member of for over 20 years, into disrepute.
I am extremely proud that this council has never had to go down the road like a council to the south has this year and we have kept ourselves squeaky clean. So I am really sorry that has happened.
Councillors, there are some of you that know better than others, some I see more of and some I might talk to more often but in this chamber I have endeavoured at all times to be fair and impartial and I believe I have achieved that so the article, although fairly accurate, was disappointing to me personally and I accept that I am responsible for that.
Fellow councillors there has been a lot said in this chamber recently about openness, transparency and accountability. Councillors, let me say unequivocally I have no reservations about the story. However, I note one resident, Mr Joseph Carbone, was particularly harsh in his criticism of me.
Councillors, to the best of my knowledge I have never met Mr Carbone but the name did a stir a memory so I set about making some enquiries to refresh that memory. I have discovered that there are, in fact, two people named Mr Joseph Carbone, one is older than the other and I believe they may be father and son and both are known to council staff, with the younger of the two commonly referred to as “Joey Carbone”.
Council staff have examined the picture on page three of the Messenger dated September 26 and believe that the Mr Joseph Carbone they know is in that picture under the heading “Road closure turns into political storm”.
Mr Joey Carbone is the managing director of a company called Complete Construct. He is a developer and has, in fact, done some reasonably significant developments in the City of TTG, the most recent of which is in Agnes Court, Modbury, where I think three houses were demolished and have been replaced by 11 dwellings. This development is almost complete and ready to hit the market.
On Saturday the 24th of March this year I attended a council event at Baymoor Reserve, Modbury. I met with some residents at the event who live in Angas Court, Modbury. They raised some concerns with me about the development and invited me to inspect the site for myself. I did advise them I was well aware of the development but would meet them there later that day, which I did.
Councillors, one of the first lessons learnt in being a councillor is to tread carefully with development issues and any relationship with councillors. I advised the residents I would come and have a look but warned them if development approval has been granted and construction has started then there is nothing an elected member can do. The Planning Act and the Local Government Act are two separate things. You can’t change an approval. That is why sometimes people write in and ring up and say that they are frustrated by delays with an approval. Because once is something is approved, it is approved and can’t be unapproved.
I did say to the residents that I would take their concerns to our compliance team to ensure the development was being done in accordance to its approval and any conditions.
I took these concerns to council staff and was advised by them that they were well aware of this development and had already paid several visits to it and that subsequent to one of those visits they had been contacted by another elected member, namely Councillor Barbaro. I pointed out that Angas Court, Modbury, was not in Hillcott Ward or even close to it and asked what was Cr Barbaro’s interest.
I was told that he is a known acquaintance of Mr Joey Carbone and they assumed, that is the staff, that he was offering to help with any issues. Staff advised me at the time that, in fact, Mr Joey Carbone was thought to be a fairly close acquaintance of Cr Barbaro.
I asked then if if this was the only time Cr Barbaro has contacted council staff in relation to any other matters or otherwise in relation to Mr Carbone.
Again I was advised that around August 2017, 12 over months ago, council staff had arranged a meeting with both Mr Joseph Carbone and Mr Joey Carbone in reference to their desire to remove a significant tree on a property believed to be occupied alone by Mr Joey Carbone.
Council staff have advised that Cr Barbaro attended that meeting with and apparently on behalf of both of the Carbones. Once again I point out that this issue did not appear to be related to Hillcott Ward.
Fellow councillors, as stated earlier, I am always prepared to cop fair, balanced and unbiased criticism of me and of my performance as an elected representative of the residents of this city and, in particular, my role as mayor.
It appears that the resident named in this article, Mr Joseph Carbone, seems to be connected in a signficant way to a developer in the city, Mr Joey Carbone, and both appear to have some connection to Cr Barbaro.
So I simply ask the question, as I asked the reporter, can the comments attributed to Mr Joseph Carbone in the article be seen to be fair, balanced and impartial, particularly as there was no mention of the disrepectful behaviour of Cr Barbaro.
Councillors, let me say once again, Cr Barbaro was a member of this council in May 2013 when Crouch Rd was closed.
I think it is fair to say, and those who were on council at the time will remember, that he was a strong and loyal supporter of the then mayor Miriam Smith and he should remember the reasons why the road was closed, the discussions we all had at the time and the result of the community consultation conducted by Mrs Smith, chief exective Rogowski and the developer of the shopping centre at the nearby lifestyle village.
In short, his notice of motion at the last council meeting to simply reopen Crouch Road was impossible to comply with, as well he knows or should know.
Simply put, if we just reopened that road we would have to instruct the shopping centre owners that they could no longer use Crouch Road to manoeuvre the delivery semi trailers. No delivery means nothing to sell and Woolworths would be forced to close its doors.
This, I believe, would leave council open to litigation from both the shopping centre owners and Woolworths and it could cost our residents hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees.
Fellow councillors, in light of recent developments I feel the residents of this city deserve more information and the truth about this whole issue.
A person I believe is closely connected to a developer who may be connected to Cr Barbaro comes into this chamber during an election campaign and harshly criticises me, the current mayor, and makes no mention of the behaviour of my opponent, Cr Barbaro.
Why has the reopening of Crouch Rd, that has lain dormant for five years, suddenly become a matter of grave urgency?
The local state MP, who was a member of this council for three years and did not raise this issue once in that time, now apparently also supports the reopening of Crouch Road.
A nearby large parcel of land advertised for sale and quickly withdrawn from sale is referred to by Cr Barbaro in today’s The Advertiser as his brother’s land.
There was an inference in today’s article by Cr Barbaro that in his 12 years in this chamber he has been the subject of unfounded accusations and personal attacks.
This, in my opinion, is a slur on all the other elected members in this chamber during those 12 years and, in my opinion, cannot be substantiated.
Elected members, I say enough is enough.
I think there is enough doubt now about so many things that the only person who can clarify everything which has been going on is the Office of Public Integrity.
He has the resources to investigate who owns the land and clear the air. I am considering referring his whole issue to that office.
I am not perfect, there are rare occasions when my passion for this city can cloud my good judgment and commonsense but one thing I am certain of, in over 30 years of service tro my community, is that my honesty and integrity remain firmly intact.
Thank you for your patience and, once again, please accept my apologies for any harm my behaviour a fortnight ago caused because it is certainly the last thing I wanted to do.