YANKALILLA DISTRICT - Yankalilla council has rejected an independent investigation into breaches of its code of conduct, voting only to note the report and not to take action on its recommendations.
Councill or Janet Jones had laid two separate complaints about the behaviour of Cr Bruce Trigg at the November 17 council meeting.
They related to his tone in questioning a resident speaking on behalf of a community group at the public forum and to comments made about council staff during the meeting, indicating a lack of trust in them.
Chief executive Roger Sweetman referred the complaints to the Local Government Association (LGA) for investigation by its governance panel, in accordance with council's complaint handling policy.
Both the code of conduct and the complaint handling policy were adopted by council in October 2011.
The panel recommended its report should remain confidential, but council voted to release it publicly and it has been included with the minutes of the January 19 meeting.
After interviewing both councillors, then-mayor Paul Newman and chief executive Roger Sweetman, the panel found Cr Trigg had breached section three of the code of conduct.
The report said there were elements of culture adversely affecting council relationships and the delineation of roles and responsibilities of elected members and staff.
"It is never good governance for elected members to become 'hands on', to engage in 'second guessing, or to change course mid-stream.
"The ability to engage in robust debate whilst maintaining a sense of collegiality, civility, courtesy, respect and common purpose for the council... requires that all elected members maintain and actively develop good working relationships with each other and with staff, particularly the CEO."
The panel recommended this be addressed as an absolute priority and that professional development be provided to councillors to improve both governance and interpersonal relations.
In presenting the panel's report to the January 19 council meeting, Mr Sweetman suggested council schedule a special meeting to discuss and implement strategies to improve working relationships.
He recommended inviting several external attendees, such as a mayor of another council, a legal advisor and representatives of the LGA and state government office for local government.
Cr Trigg was present during the discussion and vote on the motion, as Mr Sweetman had indicated he had no conflict of interest, as defined under the Local Government Act.
Another councillor, John Sanderson, absented himself from the meeting during the discussion, declaring he had a conflict of interest but not indicating what it was.
Cr Jim Pile's motion that the report be noted and appended to the minutes of the meeting was carried, despite a query from Cr Simon Rothwell as to why council bothered having investigations if it would not even discuss the results, let alone take action.
Cr Jones flagged that she would put a motion on the matter to the next council meeting, as discussion had been shut down by the vote on Cr Pile's motion.
In a statement to The Times Mayor Malcolm Schlein said the majority of councillors believed the LGA process was flawed in that it did not interview the community member involved.
He said the process did not provide Cr Trigg with 'natural justice' and the comments concerning the council acting in a dysfunctional manner were unsubstantiated.
"The majority of councillors worked hard implementing 'good governance' and all had expressed surprise with the comment that relations with staff were poor.
"All councillors enjoy a good working relationship with senior staff and are always conscious of the need to ensure that correct protocol is followed when interacting with all staff."
A separate code of conduct complaint against another councillor has also been referred to the LGA panel; a report is expected to be made to the February council meeting.
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