| By Anthony Radford
Greg Williams says closed meetings bypass normal guidelines
A CITY of Greater Bendigo councillor has accused some of his fellow councillors of bullying and using closed-door meetings to avoid accountability.
Eppalock Ward councillor Greg Williams said the tactics and procedures used by the current council in their closed-to-the-public forums, held the week before public council meetings, went against recent recommendations by the Victorian ombudsman into transparency in local government.
Cr Williams said although the council publicly stated it accepted alternative opinions, when it came to expressing them at the forums, where councillors and staff discuss agenda items for the public council meeting, it was all one-way traffic.
“The behaviour of some councillors is totally inappropriate,” he said.
“They wouldn’t be able to get away with it in a public meeting, which is probably why they do it in forums.
“It is a form of bullying.”
The Bendigo Weekly then asked Cr Williams, who recently returned from a long business trip to China, if he was being bullied, he replied: “I would say yes”.
“I would say yes, but it is not having an effect on me.
“It is difficult when you want to put up a view that is not the same as the majority.”
Cr Williams cited a recent example of proof of his treatment, although he couldn’t go into too much detail.
“At the last forum meeting, a certain item was deemed confidential by the chief executive officer, so I can’t say much,” he said.
“It concerns a multi-million-dollar proposal involving ratepayers’ funds. Councillors voted to keep the proposal secret for the time being.
“I was quite angry because I felt, not the commercial details, but the process itself should be exposed to public scrutiny.
“While talking about this in the forum I was cut off mid sentence, and because there are no debating rules in these forums, there was nothing I could do.”
“The process we are keeping quiet is almost identical to the Epsom land sale and I don’t believe it has been subjected to proper competition. I believe ratepayers will be ripped off.
“This is the sort of thing that goes on behind the scenes and I believe it is what the ombudsman is talking about.”
In a report released last week, Victorian ombudsman George Brouwer looked at council transparency, including closed-door meetings.
One of his recommendations stated: “That officer reports and recommendations prepared for presentation to a meeting of council, or a special committee of council, should not be subject to change or amendment as a result of councillor pre-meeting briefings”.
Cr Williams said you didn’t have to look far to find evidence of that being done in council forums.
“The Munro development at Epsom is a good example, the one the department of local government is investigating media leaks into,” he said.
“That report was changed from the forum almost 180 degrees, from recommending blanket refusal to partial acceptance.
“That was not just tinkering around the edges.”
Council chief executive officer Craig Neimann said the council would discuss the ombudsman’s report next week.
“If councillors want to consider something different to the officer’s recommendation, a councillor, with assistance from a staff member, can formulate an alternative motion for consideration at the formal council meeting but the officer recommendation will remain on the notice paper.
“All decisions of council are made at the formal council meetings and not at the informal briefing.
“In certain situations council is required to treat commercial developments in confidence.”
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