Mitcham councillor Darren Kruse must publicly apologise to two ratepayers for his behaviour

One of Adelaide’s affluent suburban councils has ordered a controversial councillor to publicly apologise to two ratepayers.

A Mitcham councillor will be forced to undertake training for “repeated and serious” breaches of the local government’s behavioural standards and publicly apologise to two ratepayers.

Two external legal investigations, which cost a combined $13,000 and have been made publicly available after being tabled in a council meeting, found Cr Darren Kruse failed to act in a manner that generates trust and confidence in the council, or act in a respectful way.

In one complaint, a ratepayer said when he failed to stand for the Acknowledgement of Country at the August 2023 meeting, Cr Kruse showed him the door and suggested he leave.

The complainant, Chas Barter, said he then received a “highly abusive and insulting email” from Cr Kruse on August 17, according to the legal report.

Councillor Darren Kruse.

Cr Kruse must apologise at the next Mitcham Council meeting. Picture: AAP Image/James Elsby

Cr Kruse told investigators Mr Barter sent an email to councillors a day earlier to express satisfaction the council voted against reaffirming its commitment to reconciliation with First Nations people, which prompted an email exchange between the two.

The Norman Waterhouse Lawyers investigation found Cr Kruse breached behavioural standards by showing the ratepayer the door and suggest he leave.

However, Cr Kruse was cleared of behavioural breaches in the email exchange, including when he referred to Mr Barter as “racist, ignorant and a deplorable human being” as it constituted his opinion and the email did not include other recipients.

In another complaint, Cr Kruse was found by the external investigators to have engaged in an “unnecessarily forceful and aggressive way” towards resident Peter Johnson at the October 2023 meeting.

The approach stemmed from Mr Johnson finding a childhood photo of Cr Kruse online, which he took offence to, and the alleged verbal exchange was witnessed by three people.

Cr Kruse told investigators he sat down quietly next to the complainant to discuss how he came across the photo and admitted to “challenging” and “pressing” the complainant.

The outcomes of both lawyers’ investigations were discussed behind closed doors last week, before being publicly released.

The council determined Cr Kruse must provide a written and verbal apology to both ratepayers at next month’s meeting, after he breached clause 1.4 of the behavioural standards.

In regards to Mr Barter’s complaint, the council viewed the breaches as “repeated and serious” and required Cr Kruse to undergo behavioural training.

It’s not the first time Cr Kruse has been involved in controversy, late last year he apologised after he said councils that voted to stop reading an Acknowledgement of Country at meetings are “full of uneducated, low socio-economic bogans”.

During the last council term he also had to write a public report to his colleagues and ratepayers about what he had done to change his behaviour after he was found to have breached the code of conduct.

It followed another legal investigation, which cost $4000, that found he had failed to establish and maintain a respectful relationship with a fellow councillor.

Originally published as Mitcham councillor Darren Kruse must publicly apologise to two ratepayers for his behaviour