MAYOR Karen Williams has handed down the most severe penalty she can – in the form of reprimands – against Cr Paul Gleeson for 11 instances of inappropriate conduct.
Cr Williams said the local government law prescribed the actions a mayor could take in response to a substantiated complaint against a councillor.
“The act does not allow me to do any more than I have,” Cr Williams said.
“Any penalties beyond this would need to come from the minister or department.”
It comes just months before the establishment of a state misconduct investigating body that will work alongside the Crime and Corruption Commission.
Cr Williams has welcomed the move.
“There is no doubt the existing legislation needs to be improved and the sooner the Office of the Independent Assessor comes on line the better,” Cr Williams said.
Seven complaints against Cr Gleeson, listed on council’s website, are about inappropriate social media comments.
The most recent finalised complaint, received by council on July 5, involved inappropriate comments emailed to councillors and council officers.
The website says the complaint was related to the councillors’ code of conduct and was substantiated.
The website lists 13 complaints against Cr Gleeson, all regarding allegations of inappropriate conduct.
Two were unsubstantiated and one part-substantiated.
Six complaints were received this year, six last year and one in January 2016.
Cr Gleeson said the legislation coming into effect would put a stop to the raft of complaints against him.
“The process needs to be addressed because in its current form anyone can make false and vexatious complaints against a councillor,” Cr Gleeson said.
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Cr Gleeson said some complaints deemed substantiated were based on lies.
“They are part of a targeted political smear campaign against me,” he said.
“I have posted information about certain individuals that is true and they have generated the complaints.
“When I can get punished for speaking the truth about certain people with a vested interest then something is wrong with the system.”
Two unsubstantiated complaints – received in January and March – concerned allegations of inappropriate and defamatory comments on social media using an alias Facebook name.
Local Government Minister Stirling Hinchliffe announced in May that complaints against councillors would be investigated by the Office of the Independent Assessor by the end of this year.
“The new system is designed to put the brakes on bad behaviour long before councillors reach the watch house door,” Mr Hinchliffe said.
“What we have now is not up to the job. It is convoluted, lacks teeth, and – given recent events – clearly fails to act as a sufficient deterrent for some councillors.
“One of the biggest weaknesses of the current system is the requirement to lodge complaints directly with a council’s chief executive officer.”
