Glen Eira ratepayers continue to pay for councillors’ poor behaviour
GLEN Eira ratepayers have been slugged $18,000 for a report into councillor infighting but its findings will not be released publicly.
Council has now spent at least $44,000 to solve rumblings between councillors during the current four-year term.
Glen Eira mayor Neil Pilling said the report was discussed between councillors last night but he has refused to release it publicly.In line with the report’s recommendations a three-councillor panel will be set up to manage councillor conflict and infighting.
“Council has resolved to set up a reference group of three councillors to manage issues between councillors to prevent escalation of and to deal with unacceptable behaviour,” Cr Pilling said.
“A small number of incidents have clearly not adhered to the standards of conduct to be expected of public officials.”
In May, Frances O’Brien QC was called in to investigate the increasingly unworkable relationship between councillors Jamie Hyams and Oscar Lobo.
Ms O’Brien was called in after those councillors nearly came to blows at a citizenship ceremony in April at the Glen Eira Town Hall.
Cr Hyams has admitted calling Cr Lobo a “f**kwit” at the ceremony saying he was provoked. Cr Lobo denies that version of events.
Other incidents which have also come under investigation include:
— Cr Lobo’s allegedly anti-Semitic slur at a December 2015 council meeting.
— A 2010 email councillor Michael Lipshutz sent to Cr Lobo asking him if he had worked for a bank linked to terrorists.
“As these behaviours were not conducive to the proper functioning and good governance of the
council, advice was sought from Ms O’Brien on how best to achieve the standards of conduct expected from all councillors,” Cr Pilling said.
chad.vanestrop@news.com.au
COMMENT
The failure to release the report is unacceptable. When public monies are used to sort out the antics of councillors, then the public has a right to know the findings. Not for the first time has this council been embroiled in expensive legal suits. There has also been 3 formal Municipal Inspectorate investigations, Ombudsman’s investigations, plus heaven knows how many ‘unofficial’ investigations.
We can only speculate that since this latest report will not become public that can only mean that the findings were not ‘complimentary’ to the ruling faction – ie Lipshutz, Hyams, Esakoff, et.al. We venture the opinion, that if O’Brien did find Lobo ‘guilty’ of ‘racism’ or other misdemeanors, then the report would be published quick smart. If these speculations are entirely wrong, then they can be corrected via the publication of the report!
Glen Eira Debates 
July 27, 2016 at 6:52 PM
Correct. I cannot imagine Lipshutz, Hyams, Pilling, Esakoff, Ho, Magee and even Sounness voting for something that would show up their guilt and bullying. I live in hope that since this council operates like a sieve that the report will very soon find its way into the media or other avenues.
July 27, 2016 at 7:00 PM
Nah, last thing they want before an election
July 27, 2016 at 7:21 PM
A committee of councillors. They have to be joking. Will probably include Hyams or one or two of his mates. That’s giving the keys to the bloodbank to dracula.
July 27, 2016 at 7:36 PM
It’s an absolute disgrace that a ratepayer funded report is not allowed to be published for the actual ratepayer to read.
Who do these Councillors think they are, they are there to represent the ratepayers, not themselves. They are nothing more than a conduit for residents to express their thoughts/ideas to Council.
Their job is to serve the community, not hide things from the community.
You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to work out the investigation didn’t report in favour of the “gang”, that’s patently obvious by the way it’s already been ‘buried’ never to be seen again.
Could you imagine what would’ve happened if the report was damning of Oscar?
Talk about double standards or one rule for one and one rule for another.
Who decides who the three (3) Councillors are on this panel, shouldn’t these decisions be made by an independent panel?
Can I vote Pilling, Hyams & Lipshutz for the panel, (Esakoff 1st emerg) ……….. Now that panel will be open minded and impartial.
July 27, 2016 at 9:44 PM
Pilling has alway been out of his depth, and this outcome is just another example of his ineptitude.
July 27, 2016 at 10:05 PM
O’Brien’s report on Geelong was public. They got the sack. The same should happen here.
July 28, 2016 at 7:34 AM
$44,000 on Councillor infighting – report not released to public
$250,000 to fit out a wellness centre at GESAC (not commercial practice and way outside Council’s field of expertise)
$13,000 for the infamous one sided “it’s not our fault” flyer on their inept planning.
And, Council has now become the only Council in Australia to knock back a federal grant of $100,000 to make the main drag of the Carnegie Activity Centre safer. Why, because although public safety is a clear responsibility of Council, they do not believe that they should have to maintain a CCTV public safety system.
Well done Kelly O’Dwyer and Carnegie Traders for bypassing Council and securing the funding.
July 28, 2016 at 11:25 AM
I think knocking back the cameras was a good outcome, why should ratepayer pay to surveil themselves. The businesses should dig into their pockets and cover the cost if they think it is important. It just too easy to pass the buck to the ratepayers. The type of open slather surveillance gets abused all the time.
July 29, 2016 at 7:25 AM
Personally, I’d rather have “open slather surveillance” than guns in parks.
And I’m damn sure I’d much rather have $44,000 spent on creating tree protection rather than spent on trying to whitewash a disruptive Councillor partial to using the term “F*ckwit” at a citizenship ceremony.
July 28, 2016 at 8:20 AM
This dysfunctional and profligate Council should stop their covert ratepayer funded skullduggery.
A simple, fair and cost effective approach is available.
Release the full unedited report to the residents (it is their report) and let them record their decision in the 22/10/2016 Council Elections.
July 28, 2016 at 10:23 AM
The amount of money that this council has wasted on selective witch hunts of councillors over the years is shameful. There is no respect for public money and how to use it well. There is also no respect for residents and their rights to full accountability. Penhalluriack was a target because of his outspoken opposition to the mrc plus his continual questioning of Newton. Lobo is a target because of his belated opposition to the zones and what he reveals about the power structures through his comments in the chamber. I recall many posts here where he has shown how councillors decide things in assemblies and not in the chamber as legally required and how these alleged “minutes” are manipulated to hide the true goings on.
I keep asking myself how councillors who have been in power for so many years can have achieved so little that is of real benefit to residents.
July 28, 2016 at 11:17 AM
That’s easy to explain, they are not there to represent residents, only their pathetic egos. And they are there for the money, need there be more
July 28, 2016 at 2:10 PM
we’ve got a mafia running the place and they aren’t Italian mafia
July 28, 2016 at 2:36 PM
What is most important is that the newly appointed CEO Rebecca McKenzie has not shown her leadership in the fear that her contract and or her performance assessment will be on the chopping board, Rumour has i
that there is internal reorganisation and staff are seen running like chookless heads.
The decision not to publish the report which is against the basic values of transperancy is one of the many things that are flushed in the toilet.
All the Councillors who are totally wasiting rateclear indication that they come from gutters. People thought that Magee being labor he would stand against ostracising any one and for others to take part in motions without using their brains.
Frankly the Council must be SACKED before the election due, somewhere in October this year.
Which authorities should be consulted to get a copy of the report:
July 28, 2016 at 10:51 PM
Not that simple and a tad unfair. A ceo cannot over rule a council decision. They can advise and offer advice but if a majority of councillors decide on something and it does not break the law then ceo’s are obliged to either carry out what they’ve been ordered to do or to let the resolution stand. As far as I can see McKenzie has made some important changes already. Burke is gone. From 5 directors we now have 4 – a saving of about 100,000 I would guess. She has to continue to clear out the rest. Torres has to go and so do Jones and Swabey. Then it is up to the electorate to make sure that we have seen the last of Hyams, Lipshutz, Esakoff, Pilling, Magee, Sounness, Delahunty and Lobo and that total joke of a councillor – developer Ho
July 28, 2016 at 3:29 PM
I’m assuming that a vote was taken on keeping the report secret. That means that at the very least 5 councillors ignored the public interest in favour of protecting their own electoral necks. Whatever the report said, I see this more as a reflection on these scoundrels than on Lobo himself. If the vote was unanimous then all of them are without conscience or integrity. I also believe that when Hyams repeatedly flouts the code of conduct and others allow him to escape unscathed then all should be condemned and run out of office. Calling a resident a bitch, a councillor a fuckwit and a racist, breaks every rule in the book. Hyams is frankly a disgrace and so are those who vote with him.
July 28, 2016 at 4:14 PM
Time to vote them out and get new members of Council who can work together and who realise they are voted in by the residents and listen to them.
July 28, 2016 at 4:51 PM
It has been 9 days since last Council meeting and they still haven’t published the Minutes on their website. Something smells. And in what forum did councillors discuss the report *and* make a decision that a 3-person committee was a sensible response to their appalling behaviour? Is this a decision of Council? The idea sounds stupid to me. There are 7 councillors whose behaviour has been dreadful, so one or more of them would have to go on a committee adjudicating their own behaviour. Cr Hyams has demonstrated what this means—that abusing people he doesn’t like is acceptable.
July 28, 2016 at 5:56 PM
You are right. A committee composed of these miscreants is completely ridiculous. Will decisions be made by majority vote or the chairperson getting a second vote or by consensus? The only solution as I see it is to either sack the entire council or to send various councillors off to a conduct panel so we can be rid of them once and for all. No committee is going to change these people’s minds when they so clearly can’t stand each other.
July 28, 2016 at 9:04 PM
David Southwick has just put this video up on what to do with the middle of Caulfield Racecourse. I spose they can all keep pretending
July 28, 2016 at 9:26 PM
Shocking and disgusting to see clear racism in Glen Eira. There are 7 Councillors (including the Mayor) who have furthers tarnished their name. First was the accusation that Newton and Burke were controling the council now that they have left it is clear that the gang of 4 liberalsr get the help of three Councillors who lack credibility and all need to be sacked and never be entrusted to look after the interest of all residents. If the fools have any sense they should insist that the report from QC be sent to the public failing which the council elections will will be expensive to all.
July 28, 2016 at 10:17 PM
‘Reprobate’ is right to question in what circumstances councillors discussed the report. Who ‘voted’ in favour of secrecy and why? Who is eligible to vote for the reference group members? They couldn’t mediate to stop conflict and infighting with each other on this and previous occasions, so how do they intend to fix it in the future? Keeping this report secret indicates it must be damaging and with an election looming could there be candidates standing who are possibly unsuitable to hold public office?