An independent arbiter has found City of Greater Bendigo councillor Barry Lyons breached the Councillor Code of Conduct by not adequately demonstrating respect for a fellow councillor, in a process which cost the city more than $5000.
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Cr Lyons issued a written apology to councillor Helen Leach after the arbiter found he had not shown her sufficient respect on two separate occasions in April and May this year.
The breaches occurred at a governance meeting on April 20 and at a regular council meeting on May 4, when Cr Lyons failed to ensure he treated Cr Leach fairly.
As Cr Lyons had already issued an apology by the time the other councillors discussed the matter at a councillors’ forum on August 3, it was considered that a procedural motion to note the apology was an appropriate way to conclude the matter.
The reasons for the arbiter’s findings, as well as Cr Lyons’ written apology, remain confidential.
The cost of engaging the arbiter was $5197.50.
Councillor Lyons said he did not believe the dispute was worth the cost of the arbiter, but that it could not have been resolved any other way.
“That’s the process,” he said.
Of the apology, councillor Lyons said: “I did what I had to do.”
“It’s confidential, so what’s in the report is in the report and I’d prefer not to say any more about it.”
In the event a majority of councillors do not vote to endorse the motion to acknowledge Cr Lyon’s apology, the Local Government Act provides for a number of other courses of action.
These include directing Cr Lyons to make a further apology “in a form or manner specified by the council” and banning Cr Lyons from up to two future council meetings or from representing the council and chairing meetings for up to two months.
The latest breach of the code of conduct comes after councillor Peter Cox apologised to Cr Leach and councillor Elise Chapman for his conduct towards them during his tenure as mayor, which ended in November last year.
Prior to that, Cr Chapman was herself ordered to apologise for breaching the code by sending a graphic image of children with mutilated genitals to a supporter of Bendigo’s proposed mosque via social media.
Cr Lyons is now the fifth City of Greater Bendigo councillor to have been found in breach of the code in the past three years.
Councillor Leach has been contacted for comment.
Jason Walls
Bendigo born and bred, interested in business malpractice, crime, social justice and corruption in all its forms. Got a tip? 5434 4476
Bendigo born and bred, interested in business malpractice, crime, social justice and corruption in all its forms. Got a tip? 5434 4476
