By Raquel Mustillo
OUTGOING Mount Gambier City Council chief executive has launched an extraordinary broadside at the behaviour of elected members, telling ratepayers “party politics [is] playing a part” in councillor’s conduct.
Mr Meddle, who is currently in his final days at the helm, flagged his frustrations with the ongoing behavioural issues and code of conduct breaches by elected members in series of emails responding to ratepayer concerns.
In one response viewed by The Border Watch, Mr Meddle said “there is a lot going on behind the scenes here, party politics playing a part and all of this is below the standard expected of elected members”.
“However, if the matter triggers a breach of the Code of Conduct, then this is a completely toothless tool,” he wrote.
“Chief executive officers across the state grapple with this and it is hoped that this will be better addressed through the Local Government Bill, which should have been introduced to parliament earlier this year.
“I have been consistently surprised at the standards to which a few councillors adhere and equally frustrated by my lack of powers to do anything about it.
“Training has been offered to council to help them lift their performance, but too few were prepared to attend.”
In another email, Mr Meddle said complaints received against Councillor Kate Amoroso have been the subject of an investigation.
“Cr Amoroso continues to ignore the Code of Conduct, which under the provisions of the current Local Government Act is toothless,” he wrote.
Mr Meddle also revealed complaints received against Cr Ben Hood have been the subject of an investigation and he has been given a written warning for a breach of the Code of Conduct.
He said the complaints about councillors were received by a member of the public and another elected member relating to the inappropriate use of social media.
But in another email, Mr Meddle said the community “only see a very small part of what is going on in the council via social media” and “my view seeing much more is that Cr Hood could be considered the victim rather than the perpetrator“.
Mr Meddle did not elaborate on what he meant by labelling Cr Hood as a victim, but said “what plays out on social media is only a snapshot of what is happening in totality”.
In response to an email raising concerns about the conduct of councillors in regards to Cr Amoroso’s absence, Mr Meddle said “the behaviours in and out of the chamber by some elected members on both sides of this debate has been far below what I would have expected”.
“The tool a chief executive officer has to deal with breaches of the Code of Conduct is toothless and it is hoped that the Local Government Bill will address this,” he wrote.
Mr Meddle did not name the councillors he was referring to, simply saying it was “those who are the subject of community and councillor concern for their behaviours”.
He also did not elaborate how party politics was playing a part in the workings of council, but said both the Liberal and Labor Party was involved.
According to council’s most recent register of interest, Cr Hood and Sonya Mezinec are the only councillors who are members of a political party, with Cr Mezinec recording Labor membership.
Both Cr Mezinec and Cr Hood, who is vice president of the South Australian Liberal Party, were contacted for comment.
While Cr Amoroso was formerly a member of the Nick Xenophon Team, she said she was not a member of any political party at present.
