Re: Cr Tony Allen code of conduct complaint -
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In an extraordinary response to concerns raised by members of the community regarding the decision of the NSW Office of Local Government (OLG) not to pursue action against Cr Allen for his failure to apologise to Mrs Muriel Campbell, in accordance with a resolution of Bega Valley Shire Council (BVSC), the chief executive, Ms Marcia Doheny, has claimed that:
- decisions by her office to take disciplinary action under the misconduct provisions of the Local Government Act 1993 are subject to a “higher evidentiary threshold than that which may justify action being taken under councils’ codes of conduct”;
- because of that higher evidentiary burden, it may not be open to the OLG “to take disciplinary action in relation to the same matter under the misconduct provisions.”
The Bega Valley Shire Residents and Ratepayers Association (BVSRRA) takes the view that these claims are not only misleading and spurious in nature, but entirely ridiculous and offensive to all residents/ratepayers; but in particular to Mrs Campbell.
Ms Doheny’s original decision not to take action over Cr Allen’s refusal to abide by a resolution of council was based simply on the claim that more than “eight years had passed since the phonecall giving rise to the complaint”.
This after her own office had upheld the findings and recommendations of the independent reviewer that Cr Allen had breached BVSC’s code of conduct.
The BVSRRA believes that Ms Doheny’s claim reflected a profound ignorance of the basis of the code of conduct complaint, the findings of the independent reviewer in upholding that complaint and the decision of BVSC to accept the findings and recommendations made by the independent reviewer, in particular that the facts of Cr Allen’s behaviour were only established by the NSW District Court in 2014, and those findings of fact are certainly not subject to any further review, assessment, validation, dispute or interpretation by Ms Doheny or her Office.
Given the refusal of Ms Doheny and the OLG to intervene in this matter and uphold the code of conduct that it is ultimately responsible for, the BVSRRA not only believes that Ms Doheny and the OLG have abandoned council, but have left it with no choice other than to publicly express no confidence in Cr Allen and to call for his immediate resignation from council.
The BVSRRA believes that the behaviour of the OLG in this matter has left its reputation and standing in the community in tatters.
John Richardson,
Secretary/treasurer,
Bega Valley Shire Residents and Ratepayers Association,
Wallagoot.