Dubbo MP Dugald Saunders says Mayor Ben Shields should go
The mayor of the divided Dubbo Regional Council says despite growing calls for him to quit he’s “not been formally presented with any accusations”.
Dubbo News
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A state Nationals MP has called on Dubbo Mayor Ben Shields to step down from the top job because of “mounting concern” about his council’s handling of complaints.
Dubbo MP Dugald Saunders went public with his call on the local 2DU radio station on Wednesday.
He later told The Dubbo News he wanted councillor Shields to “do the right thing” and quit.
“I’m just really at the point now where there doesn’t seem to be any other way forward other than for him to step down,” Mr Saunders said.
“This is not a popularly elected mayor, this is a mayor that was elected by the councillors.
“He had a team that got him into that role, albeit there were others that were supporting him at the time … they are the same people who are now saying they’ve lost complete confidence in his ability to lead the council. His trust has been removed from all but possibly a couple of councillors.”
In March six of the 10 Dubbo councillors called on Cr Shields to stand down amid conduct concerns and a push for an independent investigation into the council’s complaints handling processes.
On the day the call was made, Cr Shields was rushed to hospital after he attempted to take his own life.
He was absent from the role in April while he underwent treatment at Sydney’s Royal Prince Alfred Hospital and Dubbo Base Hospital.
Earlier this month Cr Shields returned to work and used Facebook to tell the public of his 20-year struggle with mental illness.
He has denied wrongdoing and vowed to fight a series of complaints made against him.
Most recently Cr Shields has called for the whole council to be sacked.
Mr Saunders disagrees and says the council is still functioning and calls for an administrator to come in are “completely off the mark”.
“We saw a functioning council meeting the other night where business was dealt with,” he said.
“The sort of behaviour that’s being alleged is unacceptable.
“We’ve already seen some of it highlighted in the media. It’s been all over media in Sydney as well.”
Mr Saunders said frustrated and fearful community members had contacted him repeatedly over the past six weeks to raise their concderns and express a lack of trust in council’s ability to investigate and respond to complaints.
“When Dean Frost became the interim CEO I wrote to him the day he started to call for an independent investigation immediately.
‘That still hasn’t happened, which I’m bitterly disappointed about.”
On Monday councillors unanimously voted to support the appointment of an independent investigator to be selected by the Office of Local Government.
Because the estimated cost of any investigation was unknown, councillors voted to get further advice on the cost to ratepayers within 14 days.
Cr Shields had not been found to have engaged in any wrongdoing.
Mr Saunders said Cr Shields should “do the right thing” and step down.
“For Dubbo to get going and move ahead he needs to step down and give clear air around the council.”
Cr Shields said Mr Saunders had not spoken to him about any concerns.
“I’m disappointed that Dugald hasn’t told me this directly instead of going to the media,” Cr Shields said.
“This whole affair has been played out through the media and not through the appropriate channels.
“To this day, I have not been presented formally with any accusations. All I have got is people talking to media and not the proper authorities.”
Cr Shields said he agreed action needed to be taken to deal with the council’s troubles.
“The independent investigation that Dugald refers to is for the entire council.
“With that being the case, I believe the entire council should step down, not just the mayor.”
Any suggestion Mr Saunders’s views were an attempt to oust Cr Shields and allow the National Party to gain control of council were labelled “ludicrous” by the MP.
Mr Saunders said while some councils in Sydney were run along Labor, Liberal or Green lines, Dubbo had a genuinely independent council.
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