South Australian councils dealing with a code of conduct complaint a week
False teeth, Game of Thrones-themed Facebook posts, talk about breastfeeding a dog, Indian impersonations and pushing a veteran have all featured in councillor complaints about each other.
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COUNCILS in South Australia are dealing with about one code of conduct complaint about elected members or staff each week as calls grow for an overhaul of the system governing how the behaviour of elected representatives is managed.
False teeth, Game of Thrones-themed Facebook posts, talk about breastfeeding a dog, impersonating an Indian, pushing a war veteran and a comparison to a Communist dictator have all featured in the complaints.
Analysis by The Advertiser has found more than 169 complaints have been investigated since November 2014 Local Government elections.
But this number could be much greater with 19 of SA’s 69 councils refusing or failing to respond to questions about the issue.
Two regional councils, Victor Harbor and Adelaide Plains, and Charles Sturt, in Adelaide’s western suburbs, have dealt with more than 20 complaints.
Code of conduct complaints trigger lengthy independent investigations, costing ratepayers tens of thousands of dollars each year.
Councillors found to have breached the code can be forced to make a written or public apology, undertake a training course or repay some of their allowance.
In serious instances, regarding misconduct or if council cannot resolve issues about behaviour or council principles in house, the state’s public sector watchdog the SA Ombudsman, Wayne Lines, can step in to investigate.
The Advertiser survey of councils shows that in addition to the 169 complaints handled by councils a further 51 had been dealt with by Mr Lines.
Mr Lines told The Advertiser he was dealing with far too many “personality clashes” between elected representatives and each other or council administrators.
“Quite commonly we get referrals that are about the behaviour of councillors such as being disrespectful or lying to one another.
“It is those interpersonal things that they frame as breaches of the code (governing councillors behaviour) when it is not actually affecting the business of the council.
“I am not in favour of having to investigate bullying allegations.
“My view is that is a matter the councils needs to address not a statutory authority like my office.”
The Advertiser survey of councils shows that two regional councils, Victor Harbor and Adelaide Plains, have dealt with the most code of conduct complaints.
The Victor Harbor council has dealt with 26 complaints, including an allegations a male councillor told a female councillor she should join the CWA and “breastfeed his dog to stop it barking.”
Nine complaints have been referred to Mr Lines.
The council’s Acting Chief Executive Officer Geoff Sheridan said the majority of complaints have related to bullying, disrespectful and offensive behaviour.
“While dealing with code of conduct complaints has been challenging, the delivery of core council services has not been impacted,” he said.
“There is no doubt that resources could be more effectively deployed to deal with community wide issues if code of conduct complaints were reduced.”
Adelaide Plains Council have dealt with 21 complaints — with another four being directed to Mr Lines.
City of Charles Sturt had the highest number of complaints in the Adelaide metropolitan area with 20 including a number related to a stoush over a bike path between Semaphore and Grange.
Councils for Burnside, Marion and Salisbury had dealt with ten complaints each;
21 councils had dealt with between one and seven complaints; and almost a third, 22 councils, had not had to deal with any complaints.
Local Government Association President Lorraine Rosenberg said the code in its current form isn’t working as it should.
“We’ve put a proposal to the Government to fix it.
“Most councils do not receive a large number of code of conduct complaints but for those that do there needs to be a better way of addressing and resolving these issues as they arise as well as harsher penalties for breaches.
“Code of conduct in councils should not be a political football and we’re calling on all parties to put politics aside and work with the LGA and councils on a sensible solution.”
Minister for Local Government Geoff Brock said he is currently reviewing the Code of Conduct for Council Members as it is has enabled some members to make excessive numbers of complaints.
“Both the Local Government Association and State Government agree that the current Code of Conduct is ineffective and that more work needs to be done to establish the best way to improve the code — including further consultation with its members,” Mr Brock said.
“I have delayed the finalisation of the review at the request of the LGA but when it is completed, the revised code will be simpler and allow councils to implement policies that deal with poor behaviour in a way that is best for their communities.”
Councils for Campbelltown, Port Lincoln, Unley, Coorong, Coober Pedy, Franklin Harbour, Grant, Karoonda, East Murray, Kimba, Loxton Waikerie, Mount Remarkable, Tumby Bay, Kangaroo Island, Kingston District, Roxby Downs, Naracoorte Lucindale, Northern Areas, Whyalla, Flinders Ranges and Yorke Peninsula did not respond to questions.
When our councillors clash
January 2018
FALSE teeth and an insulting Facebook post landed two Playford councillors in hot water for breaching code of conduct rules.
Councillors Denis Davey breached the Local Government Act’s code of conduct during an argument at the Elizabeth Rise Community Centre in May last year, when he removed his false teeth in front of a female volunteer, and then placed his hand on the woman’s forehead.
Councillor Michael Joy was ordered to post an apology on a Facebook page after writing comments about residents wasting his time at a public consultation meeting in May last year. He was found to have been “dismissive and unprofessional”.
December 2017
CONFESSED “sinful” councillor Peter Charles is embroiled in a dispute over claims he told a female colleague at the Victor Harbor Council she could breastfeed his dog to stop it barking.
Mr Charles denies the comment and says he is the victim of a set-up in a “disjointed and screwed” council.
A fellow councillor has claimed “radical feminists” are “seeking revenge for what men have said and done for the past 10,000 years”.
December 2017
AN Unley councillor was forced to apologise after he pushed a war veteran during a heated exchange over the relocation of a World War I monument.
Unley councillor Mike Hudson apologised to Veterans SA director Rob Manton and TPI Association of SA president Leon Eddy over his “angry and aggressive” outburst at Adelaide Town Hall in July last year.
An independent investigation found Mr Hudson “engaged in inappropriate and unprofessional conduct” when he appeared at Adelaide city council to voice his opposition to the relocation of the Dardanelles Cenotaph from the south Parklands to the Anzac Memorial Walk on Kintore Ave in the city.
November 2017
VETERAN Salisbury councillor Betty Gill will be forced to apologise and undergo media training after she was found guilty of belittling a resident’s education and spelling on a Facebook page.
An investigation that found she breached the code of conduct three times, “belittling” a resident and suggesting that the “spelling capabilities of the resident indicated a problem with education”.
November 2017
West Torrens mayor John Trainer will make a public apologyafter a State Ombudsman investigation, prompted by himself, found he breached the code of conduct because he had a “momentary lapse in concentration” and failed to leaving the chamber while councillors voted to decide whether to send himself, and others on a $24,000 trip to China.
Mr Trainer has admitted he failed to declare an interest in the matter but did not vote.
He remained in the chamber while the matter was discussed and voted on.
July 2017
Tea Tree Gully councillor Paula Luethen-Soper triggered a $900 investigation after she complained councillor Matthew Harbinson did not reply to her phone call for three days.
Lawyers hired by the council found Ms Luethen-Soper’s complaint should be thrown out. She described Mr Harbinson’s failure to promptly return her call, about a constituent matter, as “confusing, distressing and distracting”. Mr Harbinson described the complaint as “trivial, straight-out ridiculous’’.
May 2017
Burnside council chief executive Paul Deb banned his staff from fortnightly meetings — because he feared for their safety.
Mr Deb told staff he had a “duty of care” to protect them from the alleged antics of Burnside Ward councillor Lance Bagster, above.
Mr Deb also instructed his staff to have no “face-to-face” contact with Mr Bagster, who is a design engineer with the Defence Department. Mr Bagster told The Advertiser he was the victim of a smear campaign and had been accused of “horrendous things that I haven’t done”.
May 2017
Whyalla mayor Lyn Breuer breached the Code of Conduct for Council Members in a “verbal attack” on a member of the public and another council member at an informal gathering in the Mayor’s Parlour on September 8 last year.
Lawyers investigated the “heated argument” during which both the mayor and the complainant used “raised, possibly aggressive voices and expletive language”.
September 2016
FANTASY TV program Game of Thrones and Facebook combined in a stoush that cost ratepayers in Onkaparinga about $24,000.
Councillor Bill Jamieson lodged a code of conduct complaint against Councillor Gail Kilby over a Facebook post where she depicted herself as Game of Throne’s character Brienne of Tarth.
The lines “all my life men like you’ve sneered at me, and all my life I’ve been knocking men like you into the dust” were placed over the character’s face.
Mr Jamieson deemed the photo the “most sexist thing I’ve ever seen”.
June 2016
Onkaparinga councillors rejected the result of a $10,000 investigation that found Councillor Bill Jamieson bullied and harassed a fellow elected member Councillor Gail Kilby.
Consultant, Byrt Corporate Advisory, found that Mr Jamieson had breached three code of conduct clauses by “acting to bully or harass other council members” and staff and “not acting in a reasonable, just, respectful way”.
But his colleagues have not accepted the findings because the inquiry process took too long.
The council said it took too long “notifying the complainant and investigating the complaint”, causing both councillors “stress and anxiety”.
June 2016
CAMPBELLTOWN councillor John Kennedy was forced to write an apology to the Punjabi Association after accusing its members of “hiding behind their language” and adopting an Indian accent while talking about its members.
A Local Government Association review of the August incident found Cr Kennedy had breached two codes of conduct when discussing an application by the group to host a cultural festival in Thorndon Park.
March 2016
HOLDFAST Bay’s deputy mayor apologised for claiming a Glenelg East car yard broke planning regulations after the company’s previous owner threatened to sue her for defamation over comments centred around bollards obstructing an area for loading and unloading cars.
Councillor Mikki Bouchee withdrew the remarks, disclaimed “any criticism of Peter Eblen” and offered an “unconditional apology” to him “for the hurt and embarrassment my remarks caused him”.
J anuary 2016
SAND dunes and a bike path prompted a raft of code of conduct complaints at the Charles Sturt Council.
An external investigation was launched into three resident groups’ claims that Charles Sturt Council’s mayor and deputy mayor disregarded ratepayers and the council’s own advice by backing moves to extend a coastal path through the Tennyson Dunes.
The conservation groups allege Mayor Angela Evans and Deputy Mayor Bob Randall “deliberately” ignored their recommendations to advocate for the path to avoid the dunes between Grange and Semaphore.
September 2015
SALISBURY Deputy Mayor Brad Vermeer publicly apologised for comparing an eastern suburbs mayor to a communist dictator. Cr Vermeer told the council that Norwood, Payneham & St Peters Mayor Robert Bria made “Mao Tse-Tung look like Genghis Khan”.
Mr Vermeer said the comments were made “in frustration” during a “heated debate” about the election results, which demoted Salisbury Mayor Gillian Aldridge to a deputy position.
September 2015
CAMPBELLTOWN councillors moved to gag their Mayor Simon Brewer from publicly criticising any council decisions, and using inappropriate language, particularly on social media.
Mr Brewer said he would not be silenced and vowed to temper his comments.
The move followed an external investigation, which cost more than $3000, found Mr Brewer had breached a section of the council’s Code of Conduct — which required councillors to show respect for others if making comments publicly.
Councillors also demanded Mr Brewer cease using “provocative” language when commenting on council issues, remove the words “Your Mayor” from his Facebook page.