Onkaparinga Council stays silent over paying CEO’s $6800 Kooyonga golf club fee
ONKAPARINGA has refused to release details on how its council chief’s ratepayer-funded membership to a prestigious golf club has benefited the region.
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ONKAPARINGA has refused to release details on how council chief Mark Dowd’s ratepayer-funded membership to a prestigious golf club has benefited the region.
The Southern Times Messenger asked the council who Mr Dowd had met with at the Kooyonga Golf Club, in Lockleys, while on legitimate council business.
The council was also asked for examples of how those meetings had attracted investment to the area, and if Mr Dowd would pay back the almost $7000 ratepayers contributed to his golf club membership.
After sitting on the questions for five days, an Onkaparinga spokesman said the council would not provide a response.
Councillors have also gone to ground, refusing to reveal why they secretly voted to reimburse Mr Dowd $6818 for an “establishment fee” for membership at Kooyonga at a meeting in 2015.
Residents have questioned the council’s decision to help fund Mr Dowd’s membership to Kooyonga Golf Club since The Advertiser revealed the issue last week.
The day after the story broke, Ms Rosenberg defended paying the fee, saying it was “considered to be legitimate business”.
“We can understand community concern if this was about our CEO playing golf,” Ms Rosenberg said.
“It was primarily about the City of Onkaparinga’s sector-leading economic development and China engagement strategies, which have delivered great outcomes for our local businesses, specifically by opening the door to the lucrative Chinese market.”
The Southern Times called Ms Rosenberg this week to ask her to provide more details on how Mr Dowd’s golf membership had led to stronger economic links with China.
Ms Rosenberg did not return calls on Monday. A council spokesman later said Ms Rosenberg was “flat out” and unavailable for an interview.
State Ombudsman Wayne Lines, who investigated the matter, criticised the council’s decision to pay the “establishment fee” for Mr Dowd’s golf membership and then keep the payment secret from residents for more than a year.
Mr Lines made no criticism of Mr Dowd and did not make a ruling on whether he should pay the money back to the council.