The resignation of Cr Troy Marquart has closed the file on an alleged code of conduct violation against him.
Marquart resigned in writing before the October 26 meeting.
That meeting was dealing with a number of items, but one of them was a confidential item to deal with the code of conduct complaint.
Marquart had revealed at a previous meeting that he was the subject of the complaint and had asked for the matter to be dealt with publicly, but the Council ruled that it would break the Act to do so.
The matter was deferred until the October 26 meeting where it was recorded that the matter was not determined because the councillor had resigned.
However, the matter would still be sent to Council’s internal ombudsman for any appropriate action.
A second code of conduct matter, in reference to Cr Greg Best, was again deferred.
Cr Best had previously flagged that he was the subject of this complaint.
The matter was deferred again, so the councillor could give a verbal submission, presumably, to the next confidential meeting.
The code of conduct says that in the case of a breach by a councillor, the councillor be formally censured under section 440G of the Local Government Act or the matter be referred to the Office of Local Government for further action under the misconduct provisions of the Act.
Meanwhile, another confidential item first tabled at the October 12 meeting is believed to have been dealt with at the October 26 meeting.
It was labelled a “Staff Matter” and councillors had voted to defer the matter to the October 19 meeting.
At that meeting, they voted again to defer the matter, awaiting legal advice.
It is believed that it was dealt with during the confidential session at the October 26 meeting and unlike all previous decisions made in confidential session, no public declaration of the decision was made.
The Chronicle asked for a public statement but Council said that they still haven’t resolved the matter.
Merilyn Vale