GANNAWARRA Shire councillor Andrew Gibbs said he has initiated a discrimination suit against council's chief executive after being refused entry to its meeting.
Hold tight - we’re checking permissions before loading more content
Cr Gibbs said chief executive Tom O’Reilly denied him entry into council chambers on Wednesday night, citing COVID-19 as the reason.
“He says I have COVID-19. Apparently, Tom is now my doctor,” he said.
“I asked what basis he had for this and he said, ‘I’ve had a hunch and someone told me’.
“I wore a mask into council offices on Tuesday, July 14, because my father has pneumonia and I’m trying to make damn sure I’m don’t pick up anything that could make him sick so where does he get off making accusations that I have no OH&S standards and come into the building?
“I have a constitutional guaranteed role to play in council and he has no authority or legal right to block that happening, but he is now blocking me from getting in.”
Cr Gibbs alleged Mr O’Reilly didn’t want him speaking about two contentious issues during Wednesday’s meeting.
“The councillor satisfaction survey has been out for six weeks. We only got ours last weekend and in that period his contract renewal was up. The survey was the worst since Gannawarra was formed 22 years ago,” he said.
“It dropped by 25 base points on just about every section and the worst was the leadership of the executive. Across the board we dived, in Cohuna it dived to the floor and that was not in front of us while Tom’s contract was being negotiated. The week after negotiations were finished, the report comes out.”
The Cohuna councillor said he was planning to move a motion at the meeting to rescind Mr O’Reilly’s contract negotiations subject to a review.
The other issue Cr Gibbs was going to discuss was the Cohuna Aerodrome, which will close from September until at least December after council formally advised Coliban Water it will surrender the licence.
The aerodrome is located on land owned by Coliban Water, next to the Cohuna Water Reclamation Plant, with the lease renewed in 2019 for another five-year period.
Cr Gibbs is the Cohuna Aviation Club chairman and spoke at a public rally in November petitioning council to support the Cohuna Aerodrome redevelopment.
“I was going to argue the petitions put together by Dr Peter Barker should still be recognised because 1500 people their names to it,” he said.
“I was also going to ask for the airport decision to be rescinded based on the fact they didn’t give it the proper disposal assets notes, all things that may have gone right to the wire because Cr Jodie Basile wasn’t there, so they wouldn’t have had a guaranteed majority.”
Cr Gibbs also alleged he had been a target of discrimination since he joined council.
“I get a different set of rules put on me and I’m managed differently from any other councillor. You can see it in documents and emails and last night I called it out,” he said.
Cr Gibbs said court action had started and he had briefed his legal counsel on Wednesday morning.
“A statement of claim will be prepared and that will be lodged and we start the process,” he said.
“You can’t have this kind of behaviour. It doesn’t matter who you are, you can’t pull it off. And you particularly can’t pull it off when contentious issues are being debated.”
In relation to Cr Gibbs’ “non-attendance” at Wednesday’s council meeting, Mr O’Reilly said “Cr Gibbs attended council’s customer service centre at Kerang on Tuesday wearing a facemask and said he had a head cold".
“Cr Gibbs could provide no evidence that he had a COVID-19 test from the time he had attended council’s customer service centre,” he said.
“The actions of the CEO were specifically taken in the interests of the community's health and Cr Gibbs was given every opportunity right up to the start of Wednesday night’s meeting to engage in the meeting via mobile phone. This is about health, not playing politics.”
Mr O'Reilly said council led by example in minimising the risks of COVID-19 to the community.
“We can’t afford to be make exceptions for any individual and we should each take responsibility to work together to help keep our community safe,” he said.
“Our council is operating in accordance with state government and the Chief Medical Officer directions (i.e. if any staff member or councillor attending the workplace or council meetings have cold or flu symptoms, no matter how minor, they must stay at home, should get tested for COVID-19 and stay isolated until they have a confirmed negative COVID-19 test result).
“Northern District Community Health provided council with strict instructions which stated ‘that condition on entry to the building is that no-one can enter if they have any cold or flu (no matter how minor) like symptoms’.”
In relation to the discrimination suit, Mr O’Reilly said: “Council awaits more information from Cr Gibbs in relation to this matter".
MORE COUNCIL NEWS