City of Greater Bendigo councillor Julie Hoskin has been issued with a formal list of complaints by the council in relation to alleged behavioural issues believed to be in breach of the code of conduct.
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It's understood some of the allegations include Cr Hoskin recording meetings and telephone calls with councillors and staff without their consent, and other confrontational behaviour.
The Whipstick Ward councillor was issued the document before she went on sick leave in May, and it is understood the council is still awaiting a response as to whether Cr Hoskin wants to go to mediation or arbitration.
Cr Hoskin returned to work this week after missing three monthly council meetings and a series of councillor engagements while on sick leave.
It is also understood Cr Hoskin’s behaviour toward other councillors has been an issue for some time and is impacting on council business.
Mayor Margaret O’Rourke said the allegations were independent of the Marong Business Park decision in April, where councillors voted 6:2 in favour of the compulsory acquisition of a section of the Carter family farm in the city’s west.
“She (Cr Hoskin) has not been treated differently since the Marong decision,” Cr O’Rourke said on Friday.
Cr Hoskin and fellow Whipstick Ward councillor Andrea Metcalf voted against the proposal at the meeting.
Cr Metcalf said she had not experienced any pressure from fellow councillors since the vote.
“Absolutely no pressure at all,” she said.
“The mayor has been very clear about it, you make a decision at council, sometimes they go your way, sometimes they don’t, but you leave it there on the council table.”
The decision to forcibly buy part of the Carters’ farm was rejected by planning minister Richard Wynne last month.
All nine City of Greater Bendigo councillors signed the councillor code of conduct document in February 2017.
The document outlines six principles by which councillors are bound, they are; responsiveness, integrity, impartiality, accountability, respect and leadership.
It is unclear what principles within the code of conduct the allegations contravene. Cr Hoskin was contacted numerous times for comment but did not respond before deadline.
