General News
2 August, 2024
Rebel councillors condemn leaders
In an astonishing attack from within the council chamber cohort, three Horsham Rural City Councillors have questioned the veracity of their "leaders", arguing failure to meet the council's budget deadline has put staff under immense pressure and caused significant reputational damage to council.
In a blistering swipe at council governance - aimed squarely at CEO Sunil Bhalla and mayor Robyn Gulline - Councillors Claudia Haenel, Ian Ross and David Bowe this week released a bombshell joint statement guaranteed to further deepen the rifts within an already fractured chamber - while council's ability to operate normally is now under a legal cloud following intervention from the state government.
The rebel councillors speak of their extreme disappointment that the budget was not adopted by the goverment's June 30 deadline, that appropriate governance was not followed, that council was not sufficiently briefed, and that relevant documentaion was not provided to councillors in a timely manner.
"Failure to do so has placed our internal staff under immense pressure and has caused significant reputational damage to council," they write.
Emphasising that the statement represents their individual views, and not those of Horsham Rural City Council, they say responsibility for setting the agenda "lies directly with the CEO and the mayor" and, as a result, they say: "We believe this has been a failure by our leaders."
The shock statement - published in full on page 3 - comes as both Mr Bhalla and Cr Gulline face mounting pressure on multiple fronts, following revelations the council budget may be invalid, and allegations of "unbecoming" behaviour by the mayor at the last council meeting.
Of chief concern is a letter from Local Government Victoria to Mr Bhalla urging council to "seek urgent legal advice" owing to it not having an adopted budget in place.
The letter was sent to Mr Bhalla on June 26, one week after he had written to the Minister for Local Government, Melissa Horne, seeking an extension to the budget deadline.
Despite this, Mr Bhalla told councillors at their monthly meeting on July 22 that he saw no problem with the delay.
"There are no consequences," he told councillors.
"I do not believe that there is any reason for council not adopting the budget."
Councillors eventually voted to adopt the budget during a lengthy and sometimes rowdy meeting.
But LGA executive director Mike Gooey, acting on behalf of Minister Horne, had already told Mr Bhalla there may be serious consequences, that normal council operations "may be in jeopardy", and that he was obligated to report council's non-compliance to the Chief Municipal Inspector.
Meanwhile, the Victorian Council Watch lobby group has added fuel to the fire, and the fallout continues to reverberate over this year's disastrous Community Satisfaction survey.
Council Watch, which lists "exposing council conduct and poor decision-making" among its key achievements, accuses Cr Gulline of "appalling" behaviour at the July 22 council meeting.
President and CEO Dean Hurlston, in a letter sent on Monday to Cr Gulline, and copied to Minister Horne, has demanded she be suspended or sacked by the Minister if she does not apologise for allegedly "screaming and banging on the table multiple times", among other claims of "lack of self-control".
We have refrained from publishing his letter for legal reasons.
More stories and statements in full - including the names of at least three new candidates to stand for Horsham Rural City Council in the October elections - in The Horsham Times today