A HEARING between warring Hobsons Bay councillors was adjourned on Monday because a proposed adjudicator was a former Hobsons Bay chief executive.
Former Hobsons Bay CEO Ken McNamara was one of two panel members set to hear a dispute between mayor Tony Briffa and Cr Peter Hemphill at the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal. Senior member Robert Davis was also on the panel. Cr Hemphill, through his legal counsel, successfully applied to have Mr McNamara dismissed.
Ken McNamara was CEO from 1994-2004.
The dispute started last June when Cr Hemphill made a complaint against Cr Briffa, alleging misconduct.
On August 11, a councillor-conduct panel found Cr Briffa had breached the council’s code of conduct in respect to three emails sent to a former Mobil public relations adviser.
Cr Briffa, who was not at the hearing because he was with a terminally ill friend, was ordered to apologise, undertake mentoring and undergo counselling under supervision of the mayor.
Cr Hemphill subsequently made a serious misconduct allegation against Cr Briffa in relation to his apology.
In February, VCAT ordered the pair to undergo mediation but the matter failed to be resolved. The pair had been scheduled to attend a three-day hearing ending today.
A directions hearing is scheduled for June 18, but no hearing date has been set.
Cr Briffa this week said that VCAT decided although there was no actual bias represented by Mr McNamara, some people might believe there was. “Unfortunately, the VCAT doesn’t appear to have another member qualified to sit on the case with the relevant local government experience so we are unsure when this matter can be heard.”
A reported tabled at last week’s council meeting shows legal costs associated with the matter so far amount to $56,440.85 for Cr Briffa and $5020 for Cr Hemphill. Cr Hemphill refused to comment to the Weekly.
