Sue Smith lashes out at Glenorchy aldermen and senior staff

GLENORCHY Commissioner Sue Smith has expressed deep frustration at the end of a long week, which has seen moves to have the council sacked and fresh elections held in the new year.

Glenorchy City Coucil chambers. Picture: SAM ROSEWARNE.

GLENORCHY Commissioner Sue Smith has expressed deep frustration at the end of a long week, which has seen moves to have the council sacked and fresh elections held in the new year.

Mrs Smith said she was concerned the legal actions which had bogged down the council and cost ratepayers dearly over the past few years could continue, blowing out the costs of the ongoing saga.

And she said she was deeply disappointed by the actions of suspended aldermen in the wake of Local Government Minister Peter Gutwein’s decision to introduce laws to dismiss the council, saying she believed they were operating out of self-interest and not putting the community first.

In a wide-ranging interview with the Mercury, Mrs Smith said:

LEGAL action against the Board of Inquiry could extend past Glenorchy general manager Peter Brooks’ Full Court appeal next week, after the Division of Local Government said there could be further avenues of appeal.

THE bill for the Board of Inquiry, to be paid by council, would easily pass $1 million.

ANY suspended aldermen or staff trying to get new legal fees paid for by the council would have to convince the council’s insurers.

THE council has been forced to get external legal advice, another cost to ratepayers, following the latest actions by a group of aldermen.

Mrs Smith said the council was forced to investigate whether it would have to accept the resignation of seven members, despite a directive from Director of Local Government Alex Tay that, because they were suspended, they did not have positions from which to resign.

“There is an account for external legal advice we are getting following this week,” she said.

“We need to get it. It’s an extra cost for the community but we need to have a strong legal knowledge of the situation.

“I’ve asked if this [the appeal next week] will be the end and I was told that there could be a further avenue.

“There will be an account for more than a million dollars by the time this is all finished. That could be a lot of bloody footpaths we could be fixing in Glenorchy.”

Mrs Smith said those involved needed to have a good look at themselves and their actions. “My patience is running out with the whole situation,” she said.

“I have only been here since February and if I can take into account the best interests of the community and how my actions affect them, then why can’t others?

“This whole council table has taken advantage of the situation, one group is rushing to the council lawns to hold a media conference for their advantage and a quiet group behind the scenes is working together, which I suspect happened before my time.

“It’s very unusual to think that six people have all had the same thought at the same time [all resigning from the council] — there must have been conversations going on.

“That is synonymous with the climate that has been at this council.”

And Mrs Smith — who will have her current contract as commissioner terminated should legislation be introduced by Mr Gutwein aimed at sacking the aldermen pass State Parliament — also gave the strongest indication yet that the council was reviewing the future of Mr Brooks, following an explosive report from the state’s Auditor-General.

“At this particular stage, the general manager and other senior management have contracts, I’m working with a contract that has been in place for some time,” she said.

“I must follow every legal process in my actions, I must prevent every opportunity to incur a further cost by the ratepayers.”

Even by recent Glenorchy City Council standards, the last week has been a rollercoaster.

While the attention of suspended aldermen, Glenorchy staff and the many interested onlookers has been squarely focused on the long-overdue Board of Inquiry report and whether it will actually be released, a damning report from the state’s public sector watchdog reignited the flames and once again crashed the dysfunctionality of the council into the public conscious. The report by the Tasmanian Audit Office painted a scathing picture of the procurement processes at the council — with the explosive allegation that evidence was found to indicate the intentional splitting of activities into multiple contracts to avoid the requirement to publicly invite tenders.

Mr Gutwein subsequently introduced legislation into State Parliament that would sack the suspended Glenorchy aldermen and hold fresh new elections on January 16.

Should the legislation be passed — and the Mercury has been told that efforts will be taken by some suspended aldermen to convince Legislative Councillors to vote against it — Mrs Smith’s current contract as commissioner will come to an end.

But she will given a new contract until the January election.