Onkaparinga Council CEO Mark Dowd in new row over expenditure
ONKAPARINGA Council CEO Mark Dowd has come under a fresh attack for “wasted” expenditure after revelations he is provided with a permanent car park in Adelaide’s CBD.
ONKAPARINGA Council CEO Mark Dowd has come under a fresh attack for “wasted” expenditure after revelations he maintains a permanent carpark in Adelaide’s CBD – at a monthly cost of $341 to ratepayers.
The disclosure comes after Mr Dowd said he will repay $6818 of ratepayer cash to fund his joining fee at the prestigious Kooyonga Golf Club - far from the region he represents - 10 days after The Advertiser exposed the scandal.
One-time president of the Onkaparinga Residents’ Association, John Houlahan, has raised the carpark concern after using the Freedom of Information Act to examine the council’s expendenture.
Mr Houlahan said he was surprised to see a one-line item which states under the heading “EA (executive assistant) to CEO credit card expenditure” and “monthly fee for carpark in Topham car park $341’’.
“With the train station on his doorstep, how can this be justified?,’’ he said, claiming Mr Dowd’s predecessor “frequently used the train.”
But Mr Dowd, who works from his council office in Noarlunga, hit back, saying other staff also use the Topham Mall carpark, because the council often has meetings in the centre of Adelaide. “Onkaparinga has a carpark in the city which all staff who travel to the city for work have access to,’’ said Mr Dowd, who earns $328,000 a year. “There are a multitude of meetings that’s (sic) occur in the city. A car park for all staff is a cost effective way to address meetings in the city.’’
Onkaparinga Councillor Don Chapman said: “Why can’t he use his council-provided credit card to pay for parking on an ‘as-needs’ basis?’’
Mr Chapman was behind a motion at an Onkaparainga Council meeting on Tuesday for Mr Dowd to repay the golf fee membership, which council voted 17-3 against.
On Thursday, Mr Dowd agreed, but offered no apology, defending his actions in a self-serving two-page statement.
But if Onkaparinga councillors hoped the matter would go away, they are wrong. A group of residents has set up a Facebook page, “City of Onkaparinga Council Watch”, as a result of anger about the secret golf payment. The page already has 450 members.
Local resident Yvonne McGrotty launched the group with the statement: “An informed community is an empowered community. Our purpose is to help our communities be aware of the decisions of council’’.
On the page, ratepayers have strongly defended the media against attacks from councillors who voted to pay the $6818 to Mr Dowd, and keep the payment secret.
On Thursday Mr Dowd labelled the media: “extensive half-truth press”, but did not give any examples of errors.