Council admits to spending $80K to support beleaguered former mayor Sam Aziz’s legal battle
Under-fire former mayor Sam Aziz pursued a private bid to sue a Berwick resident who spoke out against him on social media, with Casey Council backing him to the tune of $80,000, according to fresh explosive revelations at the IBAC hearings into corruption.
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Ratepayers groups and a former councillor say they are “shocked” the council splashed $80,000 of ratepayers’ cash to support Sam Aziz’s defamation fight against a Casey resident.
In stunning revelations at the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission hearings last week, Casey Council’s chief executive Glenn Patterson admitted the council forked out $80,000 for disgraced councillor Sam Aziz’z legal action against a resident.
Mr Patterson said the council recouped $15,000 from the eventual settlement.
The local man, who Leaderhas chosen not to name, took to Facebook in February 2017 to voice his concerns about a council plan to build a large roundabout at the entrance to the Berwick Springs Estate. It’s understood in the post he voiced concerns about Aziz’s ties with a developer.
When Mr Patterson was questioned by IBAC about how much the council paid he said “approximately $80,000”.
“And there was a requirement that any settlement that occurred as a result of the action, that those funds would flow to the council to offset that cost, and my understanding is a settlement of in the order of $15,000 was made. So the net cost to the council was in the order of $65,000,” Mr Patterson told the hearing.
When asked by IBAC if this was unusual and if he had concerns about it, Mr Patterson responded “yes” and said he had seen this at previous councils.
One former councillor, who asked not to be named, said the exorbitant spend was “just wrong”.
“You should never use ratepayers’ money to sue a ratepayer. If there was a civil action then that’s fine. Using ratepayers’ money is just downright abuse of the system.”
Ratepayers Victoria president Dean Hurlston agreed saying it was “disgraceful” the council supported Sam Aziz’s personal legal fight.
“It’s disgusting that council has used ratepayers’ money to sue a ratepayer … sadly the Local Government Act enshrines a culture of protection that CEOs have to defend councillors with an costs but it should not include personal defamation,” Mr Hurlston said.
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“A councillor should pay for this at their own expense – this was an example of a councillor using council’s money to defend his reputation and this is not appropriate.”
Cr Aziz flew to Egypt late last year before the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission hearings were told he pocketed $900,000 from property developers.
The IBAC hearings were also told Cr Aziz, a former mayor, had received monthly $25,000 payments from developer John Woodman for “expert advice” on smart cities.
Last month, the Andrews Government sacked the councillors and installed an administrator, who Mr Patterson is working with to implement reforms at Casey.
Casey Council governance manager Holly De Kretser said the former council had resolved to fund private defamation action involving Sam Aziz contrary to officer recommendations.
“This decision was made in closed Council as it involved consideration of legal advice. The total amount incurred was $80,459.26,” Ms De Krester said.
“The outcome of the matter between the relevant parties stand as they were reached having considered the matters of law as they applied to that defamation case.”
Sam Aziz could not be reached for comment.