City of Cockburn inquiry: Minister tables report

4/5/00
The inquiry into the City of Cockburn has recommended that the council be dismissed.
Local Government Minister Paul Omodei, who suspended the council in April last year, tabled the inquiry report in Parliament today.
Mr Omodei told Parliament he would wait for the statutory 35-day period for the commissioners and suspended councillors to respond to the report before considering whether to proceed with the dismissal of the council.
Under the Local Government Act, the Minister could suspend a council and order an inquiry with the powers of a Royal Commission. He could then proceed to dismissal only if it was recommended by the inquiry, but was not obliged to do so.
In his three-volume, 1,117-page report, the inquirer, Mr Neil Douglas, made several findings of unlawful or improper conduct against the council as a body and 77 such findings against individuals.
The adverse findings covered a range of matters extending from 1993 to the council's suspension in 1999, a period which included inquiries by the Department of Local Government and the Ombudsman.
Of the 77 findings of unlawful or improper conduct against individuals, 66 were against councillors and 11 against two staff members.
The former mayor (and previously deputy mayor) John Grljusich topped the list with 16 adverse findings, ranging from his behaviour in relation to tenders for cleaning contracts to his attempts to get the council to make an unlawful payment in relation to land in which he held an interest.
There were 13 findings against Brian Wheatley, mainly in relation to financial interests, nine against Dino Elpitelli, seven against John McNair, seven against Marinko Pecotic, six against Joe Ostojich, six against former Mayor Ray Lees, and two against former Deputy Mayor Terry Battalis.
There were six findings against former City Planner John Scharf and five against CEO Rod Brown.
The report itself spells out the relative seriousness of the findings against different individuals.
Mr Omodei said that the report would be referred to the Crown Solicitor and the Director of Public Prosecutions to determine whether further action would be taken as a result of the findings.
There were no adverse findings against councillors Logan Howlett, Laurie Humphreys, Sarah Hunt, Joe Gianoli, Stephen Lee, Maryanne Separovich and Nola Waters.
Mr Douglas described Maryanne Separovich's actions as exemplary, and said Mr Howlett held 'what appeared to be a minority view that the council's decisions should be made rationally and on lawful and proper grounds'.
In his analysis of whether the council should be dismissed or reinstated,
Mr Douglas pointed out that four of the seven members currently under suspension were not responsible for any wrongdoing and, in many cases, spoke out against the wrongdoing.
Mr Humphreys, Mrs Hunt, Mr Lee, and Mrs Waters were not the subject of any findings of impropriety and consistently voted against the key decisions in relation to the city's cleaning contracts and the decision to unlawfully spend the city's section 20C funds.
Mr Douglas said that while it might appear to be unfair to them to be dismissed from office, the choice between dismissal and reinstatement must be made according to the best interests of the city as a whole.
It was vital that the community's confidence in the city be restored and an integral part of that would be a postal ballot election to enable them to respond to the inquiry and its report.
On balance he believed it would be in the city's best interests for the council to be dismissed.
Mr Omodei said he would give close consideration to Mr Douglas's reasoning when the time came to make the final decision.
He added that Mr Douglas's comments on the councillors about whom no adverse findings were made demonstrated once again that democracy ultimately rested on the honesty and integrity of elected people.
The Minister said the inquiry had cost about $1.8 million. The decision on whether the city would pay all or part of the costs would be made later.
He congratulated Mr Douglas on the conduct of the inquiry and the clarity of his report, and commended the staff of the Local Government Department whose reports and advice to him had been thoroughly vindicated.
Media contact: Hugh Ryan 9213 6700