Acode of conduct complaint against Wattle Range Mayor Des Noll has been dismissed.
The complaint had been lodged by a local community organisation in July and was referred to Deputy Mayor Councillor Moira Neagle for investigation.
She informed Mayor Noll in writing of her finding and he has included her letter in the agenda of the September 5 special council meeting which was held last night.
Cr Neagle said a representative of the local community organisation had lodged the complaint on July 11.
As a result, Cr Neagle said she forwarded two letters to this representative of this organisation asking for evidence surroundings the specifics of the allegations and supporting evidentiary information.
“The final timeline for response was August 11,” Cr Neagle wrote.
“The information requested was not forthcoming and I have been unable to assess whether the allegations can be substantiated and have therefore determined that a breach of the code of conduct against you be formally dismissed.”
Her findings have been welcomed in a statement by Mayor Noll.
According to Mayor Noll, he had made statements in the media about the local community organisation in a private capacity and not as the leader of Wattle Range Council.
“The purpose of this statement and making the code of conduct complaint to the Wattle Range Council public, is to inform and be completely transparent to the community, with the understanding that trust, honesty, and transparent behaviours are core values of the Wattle Range Council organisation which keep us together as a community and for those working within it,” Mayor Noll said.
“It is my personal belief that any elected member who is subject to a code of conduct complaint should be making the community aware of it.
“An internal code of conduct investigation was conducted in accordance with due process as set out in the Local Government Act and council’s complaints handling policy under Wattle Range Council’s members’ code of conduct procedure.
“The complaint has been dismissed in its entirety due to a lack of evidence.”
