Gold Coast City Council governance chair Brooke Patterson is facing 11 complaints from staffers
The councillor in charge of governance – facing 11 staff complaints about her behaviour – is accusing the City CEO of a “witch hunt”, which he rejects as false in their latest stinging row.
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The councillor facing 11 complaints from City staff about her behaviour has let rip online at CEO Tim Baker accusing him of leading a “witch hunt” against her and surrounding himself with “yes men”.
On her Facebook page on Friday morning, Cr Patterson also made stunning claims the administration was leaking information about her and Mr Baker’s council reforms had removed experienced executives who were not “yes men”.
Mr Baker has rejected her claims as “totally false”, with a City spokesperson confirming on Friday morning that they categorically denied the allegations and were seeking legal advice.
Ms Patterson’s Facebook page was later edited with some remarks removed.
Mayor Tom Tate, outside Friday’s full council meeting at the Evandale Chambers, said he had limited knowledge of the conflict and it was difficult for him to comment because it was at a “legal stage”.
“I have confidence on both the CEO and Councillor Patterson. I like them both and that maybe it’s one of those family squabbles,” he said. The Mayor when asked said he supported Cr Patterson staying at governance committee chair.
Southport councillor Brooke Patterson claimed on Facebook on Friday morning that the City administration was leaking information about her and Mr Baker’s recent restructure reforms had removed experienced executives who were not council “yes men”.
The Bulletin in a bombshell front page on Friday’s edition with the headline “Behave Brooke” revealed the number of complaints against being referred to the council watchdog, the Office of Independent Assessor. No findings have been made by the OIA on the 11 complaints.
Cr Patterson, who chairs the council governance committee, has been accused of potential misconduct with unsubstantiated allegations that she poses “both a potential and actual safety risk to staff” and used “aggressive language and tone” and “making disparaging remarks” about both the city and its employees.
In the lead-up to a full council meeting at 10am on Friday, Cr Patterson on Facebook wrote: “I find it interesting that the Bulletin knows more detail about the CEO’s referral to the OIA than I do. Good to see the CEO has shared the information with someone, at least. Interesting to learn there have been 10 complaints in the past six months.
“This is the same time frame in which the CEO rid himself of the City’s most seasoned senior executives who refused to be ‘yes’ men. I still have not heard anything from the OIA and have no idea what the complaints are.
“The one thing the CEO did share with me is that he had received one or two complaints and he then felt it important to go out of his way to seek more evidence and asked his newly minted exec (sic) team to find some. Others may call that a witch hunt of a new Governance Chair committed to transparency and accountability.
“It pains me to see this play out publicly. It is no good for the reputation of our organisation and am dismayed it has been leaked from the most senior level in our organisation.”
An earlier Facebook post on Thursday by Cr Patterson, who claims she had been “muzzled” by the City administration and restricted from talking to staffers, attracted positive comments from her regular supporters.
But it stunned City insiders because Cr Patterson, elected in this term to chair the governance, administration and finance committee, had not removed derogatory comments made about Mr Baker.
A resident wrote: “GCCC CEO, Tim Baker is a typical bureaucrat. We choose our elected representatives, and public servants like Tim Baker need to remember that they work for the people who we elect.”
The City in a response on Thursday said the suggestion Cr Patterson had been muzzled “is false” and she had been provided with clear guidelines on undertaking duties including phoning staffers on urgent matters.
Cr Patterson had also claimed, on her dealing with staffers, that “no council officer, city executive nor indeed even the CEO have raised this issue with me”.
A City spokesperson said there had been an earlier complaint by a staffer against Cr Patterson — before the 11 further matters — which resulted in action by the CEO.
EARLIER: Weight of complaints against ‘muzzled councillor’ revealed
Gold Coast councillor Brooke Patterson has had 11 complaints made against her by staff at City Hall, forcing council bosses to step in.
The City in a response has said that suggestion “is false” and the councillor has been provided with clear guidelines to undertake her duties including phoning staffers on urgent matters.
The Southport councillor said she was seeking legal advice after a directive from City CEO Tim Baker.
She claimed she was prevented from contacting council staff after being accused of potential misconduct which Mr Baker in a letter to her said “posed both potential and actual health and safety risk”. He used examples of “using aggressive language and tone” and “making disparaging remarks regarding the city, and particular individuals employed by the city”.
The matter has been reported to the Office of the Independent Assessor, the watchdog for councillor conduct issues, and no findings have been made against Cr Patterson.
The Bulletin is not aware of any other councillors given a similar behaviour protocol.
A council source said: “There have been 11 complaints against Cr Patterson (from staffers) in the last six months.”
A City spokesperson confirmed there had been an earlier complaint by a staffer against Cr Patterson – before these recent matters – which required intervention by CEO.
A City source, explaining councillor powers, said: “Under the Local Government Act, councillors don’t have the power to direct an officer of the organisation. You can’t call an officer and say ‘you do this’. The only person who can is the CEO or someone down the chain from him.
“Councillors are not their boss. Councillors do policy. They can ask through the acceptable request policy.”
Cr Patterson later on Thursday ramped up her political stoush with the CEO by posting on her Facebook page, saying that if her style of representation was “unwelcoming” to City officers she would have been “happy to address that”.
“However, no council officer, city executive nor indeed even the CEO have raised this issue with me. The first I hear is a referral to the OIA threatening a finding of misconduct,” she said. The City disputes this.
On Facebook, Cr Patterson wrote: “My duty is to represent my community. I will not be silenced on crime, vagrancy or anti-social behaviour in our streets and in our parks. It is the number one issue holding Southport back.
“I make no apologies for asking staff to be accountable to the community for Council’s performance. I hold myself to that standard and the community are the arbiters every four years. I also hold the CEO and staff to that standard.
“If I have represented the passion and concerns of my community to City officers in a manner they find unwelcoming, I am happy to address that. But no officer, staff executive nor even the CEO have mentioned this as a concern. Instead, the CEO has issued a directive stopping me speaking even with him on matters of importance to our community.
“I am seeking advice from the Director General as to whether this attempt to muzzle an elected representative by a senior bureaucrat (on matters where officers appear to not be upholding the standards expected of them by the community) is even legal.”
The Bulletin had contacted Cr Patterson late on Wednesday, asking her to provide details of the complaints after City Hall sources confirmed the “management plan” she had been placed under.
Cr Patterson did not respond to the email or text acknowledging the questions.
A City spokesperson said the council did not comment publicly on an employee or councillor conduct matters, but added that the City was required under the Workplace Health and Safety Act 2011 to provide a safe workplace.
“The suggestion that Councillor Patterson has been prevented from engaging with City staff is false,” the spokesperson said.
“The Councillor has been provided with clear guidelines that enable her to undertake her duties as a Councillor, including being able to contact nominated City staff by phone for urgent matters and issue written requests for information or advice to other nominated City staff.”
Brooke Patterson and controversy during her political career
* March 2016 — Former Mayor Gary Baildon storms off from a community meeting after Ms Patterson, a rival candidate, put the blowtorch on him about past political donations from developers. An emotional Mr Baildon waved his arm at he left the stage and was consoled by family before returning later, as debate continued before about 100 residents.
* July 2017 — The Benowa school principal wants Ms Patterson, as the P & C president, to stand down after her push to ban the hijab for future young female students to toughen the uniform policy. Delegates at the LNP state conference supported a motion by Ms Patterson to ban girls under the age of 10 from wearing headscarfs in schools. But the school sought to ensure its uniform code was consistent with anti-discrimination laws.
* April 2023 — Cr Patterson sparks outrage by having an events company run Anzac Day formalities instead of the Southport RSL, and rescheduled a dawn march for daylight hours. After the March 2024 poll, in a lengthy interview she admitted she “got it wrong — and the more I tried to fix it, the worse it got. It was the cruellest week of my life”.
She had been found guilty of inappropriate conduct by the OIA, but exactly why was not made clear when it was debated at a full council meeting.
* October 2023 — Cr Patterson is at the centre of a political storm over alleged comments at a public forum about her then murder-accused colleague, Ryan Bayldon-Lumsden. The Bulletin reported that Cr Patterson left the forum “shocked” with alleged remarks about the court case. She strongly denied any wrongdoing and was confident she had not breached parliamentary privilege or any other laws with her remarks.
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