A bill of more than $ 50,000 of taxpayers’ money has been collected from 22 investigations into allegations of misconduct that Cr Dance has directed at its colleagues or vice versa.
Many have involved Cr Dance – an independent that ran for Clive Palmer’s United Australia Party in the 2014 state election – and accused other councilors of breaking their code of conduct. No one has resulted in a sanction.
Hume councilor Jack Medcraft, who said persistent complaints have almost put him in a state of paranoia.Credit:Scott McNaughton
The independent councilor Jack Medcraft has been the subject of the majority of the complaints from Cr Dance, which Cr Medcraft believes leads a personal vendetta against him.
The duo both come from the Jackson Creek branch, which covers the satellite town of Sunbury.
While the details of many of Cr Dance’s allegations have not been released, an external judge’s report released on September 3 revealed.
They included a complaint about Cr Medcraft’s response to a resident email regarding Christmas decorations in the area, which lacked a greeting before asking “what exactly do you want?”. Cr Dance said the message violated the councilors’ obligation to treat all people with respect.
Despite the filing of the trio of charges, Cr Dance did not personally attend the arbitration hearing. He did the same for each of his charges against other council members.
The 61-year-old’s absence made it difficult to test his evidence, the judge wrote after Cr Dance cited a security risk “without sufficient evidence”.
The arbitrator dismissed all three claims against Cr Medcraft, which has been in the Hume Council for 17 years, at a cost of $ 8250.
Cr Medcraft has filed a bullying complaint against Cr Dance with the Hume Council. He said the consistent allegations had almost put him in a state of paranoia.
Cr Dance was an advocate for the Sunbury area for years before being elected to council.Credit:Paul Oak
“Every time you see the phone go, you think it’s a different investigation,” he said. “I’ve tried to work together, but it wears you down, it hits you psychologically.”
In written answers to questions, Cr Dance said he was “absolutely not” targeting Cr Medcraft, and that was a “ruthless suggestion”.
‘Any councilor can complain so I can not be held responsible [Cr Medcraft’s] alleged fear of not knowing where the next claim is coming from, ”he said.
“If a councilor behaves with grace and treats others with respect, they should have nothing to worry about.”
Hume’s Mayor Carly Moore said she had not met Cr Dance in person since he was elected.Credit:Luis Enrique Ascui
Asked if his complaints were an effective use of taxpayers’ funds, Cr Dance said he was unaware of the “outrageous” costs of internal investigations until the report was presented in September.
Labor Mayor Carly Moore, who has not met Cr Dance face to face, said she would be disappointed if councilors felt a healthy debate could not arise because it could be seen as critical and lead to a complaint.
“The consequence of bad councilor behavior can be much greater than what you see in the hall,” she said.
Despite the controversies, Cr Medcraft, Cr Moore and several other councilors spoke with Aging said they believed the Hume council with a Labor majority worked well.
But after the state government appointed an external monitor to oversee the Yarra City Council, Sunbury Residents Association president Graham Williams said he was concerned about Hume’s “not 100 percent functional processes”.
“Speaking of good governance, this has not been a shining example,” said Mr. Williams.
The Hume Council ordered Cr Dance not to attend two council meetings in late September and early October, in accordance with a recommendation from the judge who found him guilty of violating the Code of Conduct eight times. The complaints were filed by Cr Moore and seven other councilors.
In one, Cr Dance used its official Facebook page to call local tennis courts “third world.”
In another, he was found to have provided information to Liberal MP and friend Bernie Finn over a municipal reception to mark the outcome of the election, an event called Cr Dance “self-indulgent” and “out of touch with reality”.
Victorian Liberal MP Bernie Finn, with whom Cr Dance reportedly shared information from private council discussions.Credit:Jason Syd
Sunbury was merged into the Hume Council by the Kennett government in 1994. Its separation back into its own shire has been a hot topic among some residents since then. During last year’s election campaign, Cr Dance said a split “was always viable”.
He told, however Aging: “Not once in my time in the Council have I mentioned that question.”
The State Local Government Act was updated last year to open up a new possibility for internal appeals for city council members, where the council is obliged to summon an external judge for any allegations about the code of conduct.
Cr Medcraft believes the process is flawed, allowing for a continuous stream of unproven allegations that he says he has experienced.
“It has to be like a court – if you lose the case, you pay, or there are some consequences. Right now there is no one. “
Still, Councilman Jarrod Bell, who lamented the “really disappointing” results of Cr Dance’s breach in September, said the system had benefits.
“You have to find the balance that people feel they have an instrument available to them, but there are issues around annoying operators in lawsuits,” he said.
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The new law also gives the Minister of Local Government, the head of Municipal Supervision and the council the power to dismiss an individual councilor via a Supreme Court petition.
A spokesman for current minister Shaun Leane did not answer questions about what he was aware of regarding the work and culture of Hume Council and Cr Dance’s role.
“Councilors are committed to maintaining the highest levels of behavior and acting in the best interests of their community,” he said in a statement.
An application from a group of councilors that Cr Dance should be referred to an external behavior panel is underway. It will determine whether his failure to attend his own arbitration hearings constituted a serious offense.
If found guilty, Cr Dance could be suspended for up to a year and asked to apologize again.
Until his legal advice is completed, it is unclear whether Cr Dance will give its first apology.
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