Dubbo mayor Ben Shields formally asked to resign
The father of Dubbo mayor Ben Shields, who is fighting for life in hospital, has lashed out at councillors who are still pushing for his son to resign.
Dubbo News
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Dubbo residents have chanted ‘shame, shame’ after a majority of local councillors, who say they’re putting the public interest first, formally voted to call on the city’s mayor Ben Shields to resign.
Further details of the scandals that have engulfed the council and appalled the tight knit Dubbo community were revealed at an extraordinary meeting of Dubbo Regional Council held on Monday.
However, before councillors voted on a series of recommendations put forward by acting mayor Stephen Lawrence, the father of ill Dubbo mayor Ben Shields lashed out.
Les Shields and his wife Patricia had front row seats at the meeting and Mr Shields issued a warning to his son’s colleagues.
“I just want to make it short and sweet,” he said.
“The Dubbo ratepayers will find out the truth and by September we’ll have at least six new councillors and I’ll be trying my hardest to make that happen.”
After members of the public spoke, Cr Stephen Lawrence, who first called for Cr Shields to resign and is now the acting mayor in his absence, said he publicly pushed for an extraordinary meeting to be held two weeks ago after a serious complaint was made to him on March 16.
Dubbo was now “absolutely awash with rumours and allegations of misconduct at council”, Cr Lawrence told the meeting.
“I have referred some matters to the NSW Police … I do not have confidence that potential wrongdoing has been dealt with,” he said.
“The allegations that have come to my attention involve staff, the partners of staff, community members, organisations and even the media.
“There is a common theme in many of the complaints and allegations, the threatened use of the power of council to achieve private ends and purposes.
“An aspect common to many of the allegations is the suggestion, the threat, that council, us, would do certain things if demands were not acceded to.”
On April 1, after six councillors released a signed statement calling on Cr Shields to resign, the 40-year-old suffered a medical episode and was rushed to Dubbo Base Hospital in a critical condition.
Cr Shields spent more than a week in the intensive care unit at Dubbo and appeared to be recovering until a serious lung condition developed and he was flown to Sydney’s Royal Prince Alfred Hospital on April 9 for surgery which took place the next day.
During the council meeting, Cr Lawrence said he understood how council could be perceived to be acting insensitively, by holding an extraordinary meeting calling for the Cr Shields to resign while he was in hospital.
“However, the reality is the council is about the community … the business of council cannot stop,” he said.
“We cannot simply sit back and say ‘oh well these things aren’t proven, it’s business as usual’. It’s not business as usual.”
Cr Greg Mohr, a long time ally and loyal friend to Cr Shields, told the meeting he was the first person at the scene when Cr Shields became ill after suffering a medical episode.
A “witch hunt” was being conducted and there was no evidence to suggest Cr Shields had done anything wrong, Cr Mohr said.
“I’m appalled and disgusted, I feel sorry for the staff,” Cr Mohr said.
“It’s unfortunate that the three-and-a-half years of good work that this council has done has now been unravelled.”
Cr Kevin Parker supported the recommendations Cr Lawrence put forward, including for a report into the appointment of investigator.
“Unsavoury stories circulating” in the community about council needed to be dealt with, Cr Parker told the meeting.
“As a city and a council we need to be proactive and just keep moving forward,” Cr Parker said.
After unsuccessfully trying to make a procedural change which would have allowed councillors to vote on each recommendation individually, as opposed to all together, Cr David Grant told the meeting some people might think he was “soft” or “weak”.
“There is a person laying in hospital, quite unwell,” Cr Grant said.
Councillors John Ryan, Vicki Etheridge, Anne Jones and Jane Diffey did not speak at the meeting, however all joined Cr Parker and Cr Lawrence in supporting the call for Cr Shields to resign and for a series of reports to be prepared to address allegations of misconduct and problems at council.
The only two councillors to not support what was proposed were Cr Mohr and Cr Grant.
Councillor Dayne Gumley did not attend the meeting.
In a letter sent to the interim council CEO Dean Frost and Cr Lawrence before the extraordinary meeting, NSW Local Government Minister Shelley Hancock said the state government would “consider enacting further intervention options available” if council could not sort itself out.
“I expect all councillors to be committed to the high standard of behaviour required of people in local government and view with great concern councils that do not act in the best interests of the community,” Mrs Hancock said.
“Your time and effort as a councillor are best directed to this end, rather than to internal disputes.”
Dubbo Residents and Ratepayers Association Merrilyn Mulcahy attended the meeting and afterwards she told the media she was outraged at the council’s handling of the allegations.
“I don’t understand how you can have a meeting like that when the person with allegations against him happens to be laying in bed in hospital fighting for his life and there is no defence,” Ms Mulcahy said.
“I fear for our future here, because it’s going to take a long time to get back the good name that Dubbo was developing and that was because of the promotion by our mayor Ben Shields.”
The next council meeting will take place on April 19.
Cr Shields remains on medical leave and in intensive care in a critical but stable condition.
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