Insiders reveal ‘toxic’ environment at Golden Plains Shire as another councillor resigns

A revolving door of Golden Plains Shire executives and councillors has some calling for monitors, with insiders likening the “toxic” culture to the hit show Game of Thrones. SPECIAL REPORT.

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Insiders say Golden Plains Shire has long been plagued by a “toxic” culture, likening it to the wheeling and dealing in hit TV show Game of Thrones.

Now the shire’s inner workings are under the microscope amid a revolving door of executives and councillors.

Some are calling for government intervention, while the council has engaged a governance expert to conduct “voluntary discussions”.

When Golden Plains Shire councillors gathered in late April for their monthly meeting, a seemingly simple task had to be undertaken before the agenda could be addressed.

Overseen by acting chief executive Steven Sagona, the meeting was the first since six-year-old Caleb Wesley was fatally struck by a car in Teesdale and emotions were running high.

There was a packed public gallery at Bannockburn’s Civic Centre and the six councillors present needed to elect an acting mayor before any official business, including a road safety motion, was introduced.

The task proved not so simple and following a second split vote on whether to elect Emma Robbins or the Greens’ Gavin Gamble, councillors were told to go home and return the next night to try again.

Rokewood businesswoman Helena Kirby ultimately emerged as a compromise candidate.

Helena Kirby is acting mayor of Golden Plains Shire. Picture: Glenn Ferguson.

Revolving doors

Council’s initial inability to fill the mayoral void left by Sarah Hayden was a telling snapshot of the disorder that continues to plague a shire that stretches from Bannockburn to Smythesdale, from Steiglitz to Rokewood.

The resignation of former mayor Brett Cunningham this week marked another abrupt exit in the less than six months since the new council came together for its first meeting on November 19.

At that meeting, Ms Hayden, a first-term councillor, defeated Mr Cunningham in a two-way tussle for mayor, securing the top job and the accompanying annual allowance of $109,114.

“I believe that at this point of time I need to prioritise the health and wellbeing of myself and my family,” Mr Cunningham said in a statement this week, without elaborating.

When contacted later, he said he was “currently unavailable for comment”.

It’s understood Ms Hayden and Mr Cunningham are no longer on speaking terms, following his commentary on the mayor’s polarising Las Vegas trip, along with other incidents.

Brett Cunningham resigned from Golden Plains council this week.

Mr Gamble replaced top vote getter Lachlan Glen in January following his resignation due to personal reasons just one month into the four-year term, a result that saw a left-wing candidate come in for a “back to basics” campaigner.

Once Mr Cunningham is replaced, just one candidate out of the 10 who stood for election will have not spent time on council.

The two in the running are John Crowe and Dom Cook, who respectively received 800 and 533 votes.

Chief executive Shane Walden, appointed in September, also departed in abrupt circumstances that were never fully explained.

Ms Hayden said he had decided to “pursue a different career path”.

Phil Josipovic stepped in as acting chief who in turn has been replaced by Mr Sagona.

Shane Walden resigned as Golden Plains Shire chief executive after just six months. Picture: Supplied.

Government intervention

Multiple well-placed sources said the state government is circling, with the appointment of monitors or administrators a live option.

Mr Sagona pre-emptively contracted former Borough of Queenscliffe boss Lenny Jenner to conduct “voluntary discussion” between councillors in recent weeks.

Mr Jenner provides advice to local governments on organisational leadership, strategic planning and governance.

“Building on the councillor induction process earlier this year, councillors are now working toward strengthening working relationships and processes,” Mr Sagona said.

”This was a proactive initiative by council and not a requirement of the state government.

“Council continues to meet its obligations and is on track to deliver a new budget, council plan and all other major legislative requirements on time.”

Steven Sagona was appointed acting chief executive of Golden Plains Shire in March. Picture: Supplied.

The state government can appoint monitors to councils that have governance issues and to support them to better serve their communities, as it has done in recent years with Geelong and Colac Otway councils, just to name a few.

The appointment of administrators is a more serious step that involves the sacking of a council that is deemed unable to effectively govern.

“It is imperative that councils represent the communities they serve,” a spokesman for Local Government Minister Nick Staikos said.

“The Local Government Act provides a number of measures to support councils to improve governance processes and integrity and address governance and conduct issues when they arise.”

Mr Staikos’ opposition number, Geelong-based Bev McArthur, urged Golden Plains councillors to rectify their differences.

“I hope the interim CEO can work with councillors to restore proper governance,” she said.

“Monitors must be the last resort. I would hate to see ratepayers’ money being wasted in this way – the residents of Golden Plains deserve better.”

State MP Michaela Settle, whose Eureka electorate takes in the majority of the shire’s boundaries, did not respond to questions.

Golden Plains mayor Sarah Hayden is on leave. Picture: Brad Fleet.

Dean Hurlston, head of local government advocacy organisation Council Watch, said Golden Plains needed monitors “at a minimum”, despite warning they are a “political appointee, not a neutral third-party”.

“Administrators are better placed at smaller shires and they might need to come in because the community is not getting good governance,” he said.

“I would describe it as a completely broken councillor group to the point of being potentially irretrievable.”

Mr Hurlston this week received a letter from Ms Hayden’s lawyers that gave him until 4pm Friday “to remove all defamatory and derogatory references to Sarah Hayden on the Council Watch Victoria In (online) pages”.

Mr Hurlston last month weighed into the ‘Addy’s coverage of Ms Hayden’s council-sanctioned trip to Las Vegas alongside husband and Australian Workers’ Union state secretary Ronnie Hayden.

Mr Hurlston, who is the subject of an interim public safety order relating to Stonnington mayor Melina Sehr, called on Ms Hayden to apologise to ratepayers for failing to take leave.

Ms Hayden has “unreservedly denied” any wrongdoing.

Council watch Dean Hurlston. Picture: Kiel Egging.

She was asked this week to respond to rumours that she would not return to council after her approved leave ended later this month and whether she had formally lodged a complaint against any fellow councillors.

A spokesman from PR firm Banksia said “a detailed response will not be provided at this time”.

Ms Hayden’s daughter, actor Chloe Hayden, alleged in an April 12 comment on Facebook that “there are … members of golden plains own committee who are raging misogynists and should not be allowed to be with (sic) 100 metres of any place where decisions are made”.

It is not suggested that this allegation is true, only that it has been made.

‘Toxic’

Les Rowe was a Golden Plains councillor for eight years. Picture: Peter Ristevski.

Les Rowe served two four-year terms on Golden Plains council, opting not to seek re-election last year after describing the previous term as “toxic”.

“I’ve been pushing for monitors,” he said.

“They need to get on top of things … there’s been some things happening behind the scenes.”

One current councillor attested to the “toxic” environment, likening it to the wheeling and dealing in hit TV show Game of Thrones.

Mr Rowe clashed with Mr Cunningham in recent years.

“There was toxic stuff going on,” Mr Rowe said of the recent term.

“To be honest with you, I would have stood again, but I didn’t just because it was so toxic.

“My first term on council there was a good group there and we achieved a fair bit, but then this next group came along and things went pear-shaped.”

Mr Rowe was handed a one-month suspension in 2023 for making comments critical of council staff after Mr Cunningham alleged the comments, made to a reporter, caused a number of employees to become “visibly upset”.

Community Facebook community groups, where posts can garner thousands of impressions, have regularly been used as a mud-slinging medium.

Some believe local activists have hijacked these groups, using them to push the agenda of certain councillors, who in turn have been accused of leaking information to the group administrators.

This has only amplified the infighting among the council cohort.

Local activist Andrea Bolton and current councillor Owen Sharkey had a three-year battle that settled in 2022 and involved allegations of death threats, harassment and trespassing that were later retracted.

It appears that no lessons have been learned from that very public spat.

Originally published as Insiders reveal ‘toxic’ environment at Golden Plains Shire as another councillor resigns