Gold Coast Council CEO Dale Dickson cleared by CCC of corruption allegations
Council CEO Dale Dickson has been cleared of corruption allegations made against him. FULL DETAILS >>>
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COUNCIL CEO Dale Dickson has been cleared of corrupt conduct after a complaint was made against him by the Mayor’s media advisor Warwick Sinclair.
Mr Dickson is understood to be one of the final candidates as council decides the next contract for the $600,000 a year job as the Coast’s top bureaucrat.
All the final applicants will present before councillors on Monday.
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In a statement, Mr Dickson told the Bulletin: “The CCC has provided its outcome advice to council in respect of several allegations made against me.
“Due to confidentiality requirements, I am unable to provide further information in respect of the allegations.
“The CCC referred the allegations to council to investigate last month. Council engaged an independent external party in conducting its investigation into the allegations as was recommended by the CCC in referring the allegations back to Council.
“Council’s outcome advice to the CCC was that none of the allegations made against me could be substantiated.
“On 18 February 2021, the CCC provided its outcome advice to Council. The CCC advised that it was satisfied with the investigative requirements undertaken by council to deal with the matter and that it will be ceasing its monitoring of the matter.
“I have therefore been cleared of corrupt conduct and I consider the matter is now closed.”
Mr Sinclair had alleged Mr Dickson had used his authority to target him and delay his reappointment to council causing him financial loss.
Mr Sinclair was Mayor Tate’s long-term media advisor before he resigned in June 2019. He returned to guide the mayor’s successful third-term re-election campaign in March last year.
He won the position but his reappointment appeared to stall - it took up to 14 weeks for him to return to the Evandale chambers.
He did not respond to Bulletin requests on Friday.
It’s understood the complaint alleged:
* The CEO misused his authority to target Mr Sinclair and delayed the start of his job, causing financial losses.
* He interfered in the recruitment for the job, which denied the process under a merit-based system.
* He breached confidentiality by discussing what occurred when Mr Sinclair resigned and the terms of his release in June 2019.
Sources suggest the dispute between Mr Dickson and Mr Sinclair began shortly before the media advisor’s resignation in 2019.
Mr Dickson has been council CEO since 2003. The council is the second largest in Australia, with 3400 staff and a budget of $1.1 billion.
The council CEO has steered the administration through the 2018 Commonwealth Games and now COVID. His current contract is due to finish in September this year.
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