Enter a house divided

LOUISA RUST

The conduct of Shellharbour councillors and members of the public at council meetings, Labor caucusing and Mayor David Hamilton’s capacity to control council meetings were among the issues explored during the first day of the Shellharbour City Council inquiry’s public hearings on Monday.

Nine witnesses, including Mayor David Hamilton, were questioned at the hearing by Mr Daniel Meltz. The departmental officer assisting the Commissioner, Mr Richard Colley.

A crowd of about 50 people watched the proceedings, including councillors, members of the public and council staff.

The first witness, a senior investigations officer with the Department of Local Government, Mr John Davies, told the inquiry he believed some councillors’ conduct at a council meeting he attended in December 2005 was “juvenile and difficult”, and found many community members in attendance to be disruptive.

Mr Davies attended the meeting as part of the department’s Promoting Better Practices Review of the council in 2005.

Mr Davies said he thought the meeting was “raucous”, with several councillors abusing the general manager and the mayor and making snide remarks and inappropriate facial gestures.

He also criticised the way some councillors treated council staff members at the meeting.

Mr Davies also said the mayor’s attempts to control the meetings seemed to have “contributed to the disorder”.

Mr Davies said he believed that councillors were excessively concerned with “petty” operational issues and did not share the administration’s “strategic focus”.

Mayor David Hamilton was later called as a witness, where Mr Meltz questioned him on his methods for managing disruptive council meetings, the Council’s public participation policy and the practice of Labor caucusing before council meetings.

Cr Hamilton said many of the council’s problems were caused by some councillors who saw themselves “in opposition” to the rest of the council.

Mr Harry Gooden, a Shellharbour City resident, who was called as a witness, told the inquiry he had been told by another councillor that Cr Hamilton had become angry and thrown a chair at a meeting about the Links Golf Course.

However, Cr Hamilton strongly denied he threw a chair at the meeting, calling the allegation “third-party garbage”.

Other witnesses called on Monday were the chairman of the minister’s advisory council, Ernie Page, who was a former minister for local government in the Carr government, community members Bernie Payne, Sue Fleet, Shirley Hollis and Sonya McKay and convenor of the Illawarra Greens, Jill Merrin.

The commissioner has received 92 written submissions to the inquiry, with 38 witnesses expected to speak during the three weeks of hearings.

The public inquiry had earlier been announced by the Minister for Local Government Paul Lynch on April 3, and could lead to the sacking of all councillors.

It began last month with a preliminary hearing at the Dapto Ribbonwood Centre.

The Commissioner, Mr Colley, is a former Bankstown City Council general manager, who has been given terms of reference “to inquire, report and provide recommendations to the Minister for Local Government as to whether all civic offices at Shellharbour City Council should be declared vacant”.

The first week of hearings will conclude today, with further hearings set for Monday, June 2 to Thursday, June 5 and then Tuesday, June 10 to Thursday, June 12.

Hearings are open to the public and generally run from 10.00am to 4.00pm. For more information, visit www.dlg.nsw.gov.au/shellharbour/