Victor Harbor councillor Peter Charles denies telling female councillor to breastfeed his dog to keep it quiet

AS council rows go, some would say this one’s pretty barking bizarre. What do you make of it?

Councillor Peter Charles with his dog Taj at Victor Harbour. Picture: Bianca De Marchi

• READ BELOW: LGA plan to provide more voices in community

A SELF-CONFESSED “sinful” councillor is embroiled in a dispute over claims he told a female colleague she could breastfeed his dog to stop it barking.

But Victor Harbor councillor Peter Charles says he is the victim of a set-up in a “disjointed and screwed” council.

And at least one of his fellow councillors has come to his defence, arguing “radical feminists” are “seeking revenge for what men have said and done for the past 10,000 years”.

Details of an investigation into the council have emerged as figures show it has been subject to 26 code-of-conduct inquiries since local government elections in 2014.

Mr Charles, a 65-year-old locksmith and first-term member, has admitted telling councillor Carol Schofield during a council workshop: “If it’s too hot in the kitchen, join the CWA.”

But he has denied saying: “Yes, that is my dog barking. If you give it your (breast) it will stop barking.”

Instead, he argues he actually said “Yes, (my dog) is wanting me to breastfeed her” — a comment he says he makes when his dog is wailing because people find it amusing.

Victor Harbor councillor Carol Schofield AM.

“It’s a joke, it’s not offensive, it’s in relation to the dog sounding like a child,” Mr Charles said.

The pair disagree over where the conversation took place although they agree it happened on September 23, 2016.

Mr Charles said it took place in the council carpark where the dog was howling, whereas Ms Schofield said he made the comments in the civic centre foyer.

Mr Charles, who admits to being the subject of about half of the council’s code-of-conduct complaints, expressed frustration about how the “disjointed and screwed council” had handled several issues since he was elected.

“I am a real sinful character. I speak plainly and honestly — that is why they want to shut me down. I told the mayor I thought his leadership was s. t,” he said.

Mr Charles admits his CWA comments were a bad choice of words but said he was fed up with all the “puerile, piss-weak things” some of his colleagues were complaining about.

“I am so glad this is public,” he said. Ms Schofield said she had received an apology from Mr Charles.

“I have received a sort of apology when I re-entered the chamber the other day. I’m happy with that,” she said.

A report by SA Ombudsman Wayne Lines found that an email sent by another councillor, Bob Marshall, “did not reflect reasonable community expectations of how council members should conduct themselves”.

Mr Marshall, who was complaining about the cost of the investigation into Mr Charles’s comments wrote in his email: “This is a disgrace! $16,358! All because of some silly lighthearted comment the likes of which we all are likely to say at times and regret later.

“Then the radical feminists get involved seeking revenge for what men have said and done for the last 10,000 years and encourage the easily led among us,” he wrote.

Mayor Graham Philp denied there were factions in the council working against each other.

“My view is that we are a good council, making a lot of good decisions,” he said. “However, people have different ways of communicating and sometimes that can offend.”

Mr Philp said Mr Charles should have learned his lesson from the complaints.

“Society expectations and what is now acceptable has changed. Dealing in a council forum is different to how you may operate in a pub,” he said.

LGA PLAN TO PROVIDE MORE VOICES IN COMMUNITY

By Matt Smith

MORE migrants, young people and women would represent the community in grassroots politics under a plan to be spruiked by the Local Government Association.

It has also vowed to get more people participating in local government elections in 2018.

In 2014 only 31.99 per cent of eligible voters cast a vote in local government elections.

Of the 65 councils that went to the polls, the voter turnout rate varied from 21.73 per cent in Playford to 77.67 per cent in Orroroo Carrieton.

LGA president Lorraine Rosenberg told the Sunday Mail the association was committed to increasing voter turnout at the 2018 council elections and would work with councils to promote the elections over the coming 11 months.

“The LGA will run a campaign to promote the 2018 council elections, with a particular focus on groups where voter engagement has traditionally been low,” Ms Rosenberg said.

“This will include people aged 18-40, and members of culturally and linguistically diverse communities.

“We will also provide all councils with promotional materials they can adapt and use to promote the elections in their communities.”

Ms Rosenberg said the association was keen to increase the number and diversity of candidates.

“Voting in council elections provides South Australians with the best opportunity to influence local decision-making, and help shape their communities,” she said.

Figures on the number of elected representatives from migrant backgrounds are not collected by the LGA. But statistics show that less than one in three (28.56 per cent) of the candidates were women.

And only four out of 1334 candidates identified as aboriginal.