COUNCILLOR Geoff Dingle has hit back at opponents within Port Stephens Council in a debate about code of conduct.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
“My concern with code of conduct in this council is that it’s used as a weapon,” he said.
Under the code the council refrains from so much as naming a councillor while a matter is under investigation.
But an external report leaked to the media said Cr Dingle took photos of man and his family outside a Medowie property – something he has strenuously refuted in recent months.
Cr Dingle was last month ordered to make a public apology.
On Tuesday, the council was asked to note a report with analysis of code of conduct complaints lodged in the 12 months to September.
Eleven complaints were made in that time.
Two of them were referred to a conduct reviewer – Cr Dingle’s matter one of them.
Cr Dingle said the a reduction in ‘COCs’, down from 24 complaints in the previous year, might give people the false impression that it wasn’t a big issue.
But he went on to say that he and Cr Kafer were the only councillors targeted this way.
When questioned on this he said: “I didn’t want to went Cr [Sally] Dover out of fairness”.
Cr Ken Jordan interjected with a point of order.
“What he’s saying is not true,” he said.
“I don’t like his use of that [COC] phrase either, can he just say code of conduct?”
Cr Dingle responded that “these were the only [cases]” he was aware of.
The mayor, Cr Bruce MacKenzie, then asked Cr Dingle to wind up, which he refused to.
“Cr Dingle, the governance officer said that we cannot discuss this,” Cr MacKenzie said.
“If you won’t stop I’ll adjourn this meeting for 15 minutes.”
All councillors except Cr Dingle and Cr Kafer left the chambers.
Cr Dingle continued to speak to the gallery.
“In this council code of conduct is a joke, it adds no value whatsoever,” he said.
“It’s total hypocrisy that I be asked to make an apology for something that I had not done.”
The council last month determined that Cr Dingle should personally apologise to the complainant for photographing his property and his children within 30 days.
That time frame has since lapsed and a spokesman for council said it was his “understanding” that the apology had not yet been made.
