Stonnington Council: Nicki Batagol’s internal complaint against Alex Lew dismissed

Details have emerged of an internal spat between two Stonnington councillors, with ratepayers forced to foot the bill for an arbitration hearing.

An inner city councillor’s failed bid to get one of her colleagues penalised for what she felt was misconduct is set to cost ratepayers thousands of dollars.

Details of an internal arbitration hearing between Stonnington councillors Nicki Batagol and Alexander Lew were discussed and acknowledged by councillors at the council’s meeting on Monday night.

Arbiter Simon Heath dismissed Cr Batagol’s complaint against Cr Lew after she accused him of breaches of councillor standards including treatment of others, discrediting the council and misleading the public.

The complaint, lodged on August 19, centred around Cr Lew’s behaviour from July 12 to August 9, after he asked ongoing questions and became concerned about the governance and process of awarding the council’s Covid-19 recovery grants.

Cr Batagol was deputy chair of the committee, which decided to award $30,000 to an organisation she was linked to.

She claimed Cr Lew’s queries included emails and texts with a “threatening and aggressive” tone which had “false statements and misinformation”.

She also claimed Cr Lew “misled” the council in meetings, on social media and in news stories related to the matter.

Cr Batagol also got fellow councillor and then-mayor Kate Hely to provide a witness statement as part of her application.

In handing down his verdict on December 16, Mr Heath determined Cr Lew did not breach any councillor standards of conduct.

Ratepayers are set to foot the bill for an internal arbitration hearing between two Stonnington councillors.

He said Cr Lew’s emails were “measured” in their language and tone and indicated he was “using such processes to become informed about the council’s decision on the grants”.

“While the respondent (Cr Lew) may have been firm and persistent, the arbiter does not find his behaviour was ‘abusive, obscene or threatening’ … the respondent was respectful in his communication,” Mr Heath said.

When addressing Cr Batagol’s accusations of Cr Lew trying to “mislead” the council, he said: “It’s difficult to see how questions about process and governance can be said to constitute behaviour bringing discredit on the council.”

According to the local government act, councils must pay all costs associated with an internal arbitration process, including the arbiter’s $953 daily fee.

The hearing involving Cr Batagol and Cr Lew was conducted over four days, meaning Stonnington faces a bill of at least $3812.

Cr Lew told Leader it was “regrettable” ratepayers would foot the bill for Cr Batagol’s application and the hearing.

“I hope that no more ratepayer money is wasted on attempts by left wing Stonnington councillors to silence their political opponents,” he said.

At Monday’s meeting, he told the gallery he feared the total cost would end up being higher than the $30,000 grant awarded by the committee.

He also gave chief executive Jacqui Weatherill a question on notice to provide the likely cost.

Cr Batagol, who appeared by video link at Monday’s meeting as she was isolating, said her decision to lodge the application “was not taken lightly or personal in nature”.

She said her application was based on behaviours she had observed, and “not about questions asked or to silence debate”.

Cr Batagol said she was “disappointed with the outcome” but would continue to behave to her own high standards and “call out behaviour that is of concern to me.”

”No councillor, staff member or member of the public should ever question their decision to call out behaviours that make them feel uncomfortable,” she said.

“The cost to council when interventions are needed is measurable, but in my opinion, the cost to council with the breakdown of good governance due to poor behaviour that is accepted and normalised is far worse.”

Ratepayers Victoria and Ratepayers Stonnington president Dean Hurlston called for Cr Batagol to offer to pay all costs associated with her application.

“Ratepayers should not be picking up frivolous expenses for councillor fighting,” he said.

“Ratepayers and residents expect councillors to set the standard of good governance … it seems once again this council is distracted.”