Councillor Adelia Berridge has labelled a series of complaints made against her to the council watchdog as "vindictive and spiteful", claiming the process is being used for retaliation after the Mayor's drink-driving car crash.
The first-term councillor said she had sought legal advice at her own cost on two occasions, having had more than 15 complaints made against her to the Office of the Independent Assessor since June.
She said the complaints made to date were "frivolous", with the majority already being dismissed, and had followed her appearances in news reports covering Cr Karen Williams' crash.
"Last week was the second time I have had to engage solicitors for legal advice at my cost," Cr Berridge said.
"Constant complaints are commonly known to create anxiety, depression and low self-worth in most workplaces.
"It's generally associated with poor organisational leadership, so I see this as evidence where we need fresh and inspirational leadership in our council."
The councillor conduct register shows multiple complaints against Redlands councillors since the crash on June 23, but all have been thrown out.
Cr Berridge singled out one complaint that she argued should be questioned more than others, as it related to a social media post from two years ago.
"Why does a councillor need to trawl back two years to find a complaint, and how does anyone, let alone a colleague, have that much time on their hands?" she said.
"I haven't the resources to trawl back two years through anyone's social media, so I have many questions with this one, including [whether] this is the projected leadership standard we should follow.
"I have always maintained the complaints process is often used for retaliation and I have advised the OIA [about] the ramping of complaints since I called for the Mayor to do the honourable thing and resign."
Cr Berridge has also called for a review into the complaints process for inappropriate conduct, arguing party politics could bias decisions when matters are referred back to local government for investigation.
"Regardless of the investigator's findings, the complaint comes back to council for a decision from councillors," she said.
"Where there's a grouping of party politics at play in any council, you can't expect a moral and ethical vote every time.
"It's just another waste of ratepayers' money that needs reviewing."
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