Editorial

MORE than five months after the appointment of a second municipal monitor, Peter Stephenson, to Strathbogie Shire Council, and more than two months after his term ended, ratepayers and residents remain none the wiser regarding the precise issues that led to his appointment.

His report is with the Minister for Local Government Melissa Horne, and we await any outcomes, as ratepayers and residents deserve transparency and clarity.

The recent resignation of Councillor Reg Dickinson – the fourth to go this term – has only intensified this need for clarity.

Many have asked The Euroa Gazette in private to explain the situation or offer some insight, but our honest response has been we know as little as you do.

Yes, it is true Minister Horne’s letter to Mayor Laura Binks to advise of the second monitor’s appointment, as well as the monitor’s terms of reference, gave some indication of his mission, but the broad and general terms used, and the lack of specific examples, have left many of us scratching our heads.

In respective interviews with The Euroa Gazette following their resignations this year, former Nagambie ward councillors Dave Andrews and Reg Dickinson both alluded to what they perceived as issues involving the council administration, suggesting there was some tension between these councillors and the administration.

Responding to critiques Mr Dickinson made of council following his resignation, including that it was a “toxic environment”, Mayor Binks last week said: "the problem is as simple as some councillors continually failing to uphold the code of conduct and to understand and follow good governance".

But this still leaves many questions unanswered, such as: which parts of the code of conduct do they fail to uphold; in what way do they fail to follow good governance; which councillors have been at fault; and is this the view only of Mayor Binks, or will the monitor’s report also support the conclusion that the problem is as simple as this?

The Euroa Gazette does not blame the council for this lack of clarity – there may be good reasons they have not revealed more, such as protecting the privacy of individuals in particularly sensitive situations.

But our councillors are elected officials and need to be held accountable for allegedly failing in their roles – and how are residents to know how to vote at the next council election, if they wish to avoid seeing the same problems recur but do not understand the nature of the problems?

Ratepayers have also been the ones footing the bill: Mr Stephenson was paid between $30,000–$45,000 plus expenses; Janet Dore was paid between $20,000–$30,000; intensive training with Andrew Douglas of FCW Lawyers, prompted by the monitor’s appointment, totalled $43,182 (excluding GST); and further costs have been incurred by VEC countbacks that have followed councillor resignations, with a possible further cost of a by-election for Lake Nagambie ward on the horizon.

This is why The Euroa Gazette wants nothing more but to see an open and transparent accounting of the situation in Mr Stephenson’s report.

And if this is not provided, we will keep asking questions.