Farooq sacked a bankrupt council worker. Months later, he lost his job too
By Megan Gorrey
Liverpool councillors sacked a former chief executive whose relationship with mayor Ned Mannoun soured when the senior bureaucrat dumped the council’s new planning boss for failing to disclose he was an undischarged bankrupt, an inquiry has heard.
Farooq Portelli, the council’s current director of corporate support, said tensions between the pair had been escalating when he got wind Mannoun wanted him gone from the top job in late 2013.
Liverpool City Council’s director of corporate services Farooq Portelli provides evidence at the inquiry on Thursday.
“I guess the mayor at that point in time decided I wasn’t the person he wanted in the role,” Portelli told an inquiry into the council on Thursday.
The NSW Office of Local Government’s public inquiry into Liverpool City Council is examining councillors’ conduct as well as the organisation’s handling of finances, property purchases, staff employment and more than $150 million in state government grants for infrastructure projects.
Under questioning from counsel assisting the inquiry Trish McDonald, SC, Portelli said the main problem he and Mannoun – a Liberal who was first elected as mayor in 2012 – “couldn’t reconcile” related to Portelli’s appointment of a new director of planning, Matt Daniel, in 2013.
“About a week after that appointment I got a letter from somebody who was angry he was appointed because he alleged Matt Daniel was an undischarged bankrupt owing a number of creditors money,” Portelli recalled.
Portelli said he called Daniel, who confirmed he was bankrupt, and sought legal advice to determine whether he could remain employed at the council. Portelli said he was advised it was not a problem.
About four weeks later, Portelli read a story on the front page of the Herald about Daniel – a controversial former Sutherland councillor, Liberal campaigner and ex-developer – being bankrupt.
“I remember when I saw that, I got a sick feeling in my stomach,” he said.
He said the story jogged his memory about a condition in the contract for senior officers in local government which required their employment to be terminated should they be declared bankrupt.
Liverpool Mayor Ned Mannoun in July after Minister Ron Hoenig announced a public inquiry into the council.Credit: Dion Georgopoulos
“I realised I’d made a mistake in his [employment]. I went to see the mayor and told him that I’m going to have to dismiss this gentleman because he cannot be employed as he’s declared bankrupt.”
He said Mannoun “wasn’t happy about that” and thought Daniel was “performing well, and he was”. He insisted Portelli seek external legal advice, which confirmed Daniel could not stay in the job.
“I advised the mayor that was the outcome and that I would be dismissing him. The mayor was not happy with that.”
Some time later, the inquiry heard, Portelli was summoned for a performance review with Mannoun, councillors Peter Ristevski, Peter Harle and Mazhar Hadid, and an external facilitator.
“The scores I was getting from the mayor and Ristevski were a two, and the scores I was getting from Hadid and Harle were a five. I thought, that’s not practical, how can you have the two extremes?”
Portelli said nothing came of the review “but that was a clear indication to me that the mayor wasn’t pleased”.
The inquiry heard Portelli made a complaint about the council to the Office of Local Government on December 18 in 2013 but he “couldn’t recall” what that had been about.
At a meeting that night, Mannoun moved a mayoral minute in closed session proposing Portelli’s contract be terminated. Most councillors refused to deal with the matter and it was adjourned.
A truck outside the Liverpool City Council building the day the interim report, which sparked the inquiry, was released last July.Credit: Dion Georgopoulos
“I guess the relationship was not good between me and the mayor. There were tensions between us,” Portelli said.
“Between December and March, I came to the conclusion that I’ve had an impeccable career, so I approached the mayor and said I am willing to leave, let’s try and do this amicably.”
In March 2014, the OLG determined the complaint did not meet the criteria for a public interest disclosure – which would have protected Portelli’s job – and it would not take any further action.
Councillors resolved to terminate Portelli’s employment with 38 weeks’ pay during a confidential session at a meeting on March 26, 2014. He had started working at the council in 2004.
The inquiry heard media reports from the time noted Portelli had supported the motion and several councillors – including Mannoun – had spoken “fondly” of Portelli in the public session.
Portelli returned to work for the council in 2022. Mannoun is serving his third term as mayor.
Local Government Minister Ron Hoenig announced the inquiry last July after an interim report detailed serious allegations of dysfunction and maladministration at the council.
Portelli told the hearing the report “infuriated” him. ”I have an unblemished history,” he said.
The hearing continues. Mannoun and Ristevski are due to give evidence.
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