Three more councillors at Hepburn Shire Council have been served with criminal charges by a private citizen, leaving only two councillors in office and effectively shutting down the council.
Councillors Shirley Cornish, Lesley Hewitt and Pat Hockey were yesterday served with rarely-used private prosecution charges laid by businessman David Penman.
Mr Penman also laid unproven charges against Mayor Tony Clark in recent days, having previously filed charges of misconduct in public office against longstanding councillor Don Henderson and council CEO Bradley Thomas.
The charges against Ms Cornish, Ms Hewitt, Mr Hockey and Mr Clark relate to allegations Hepburn Shire Council adopted its current annual budget without certain financial documents.
Council shut down
Under the Local Government Act, councillors facing charges must step down until the matters can be dealt with in court.
Mr Penman’s actions mean the council no longer has a quorum and will be unable to hold its monthly meetings.
Lesley Hewitt, Shirley Cornish, Tony Clark and Pat Hockey have all been stood down. (Suppplied: Hepburn Shire Council)
Hepburn Shire Council issued a statement saying the private prosecutions were “disrupting democracy”.
“The matters are proceeding as private prosecutions and, like the previous charges, have not involved any investigation, fact‑finding process, or assessment by Victoria Police or any public prosecutorial authority,” the statement said.
“Council … is bitterly disappointed with the impact that this individual’s actions are having on our community and its right to be represented by its democratically elected representatives.
“This move appears to be a purposeful manipulation of the Local Government Act 2020 intended not to address any reasonably suspected wrongdoing, but instead to disrupt council’s elected representatives and the fulfilment of their functions.”
Last councillors standing
Brian Hood and Tim Drylie are the last two councillors able to actively serve Hepburn Shire.
Mr Hood voted against the adoption of the most recent budget.
Speaking this morning on ABC radio, Mr Hood said the private prosecution meant the council would not be able to “make big decisions”.
Brian Hood is one of two members of the Hepburn Shire Council that remain. (ABC News: Rochelle Kirkham)
“I must emphasise that normal work will continue; repairs to roads, collection of rubbish, the day-to-day operations at council will continue,” Mr Hood said.
“What can’t happen is councillors meeting in order to enter into new major contracts, new capital works, any major decisions that require the councillors to make the decisions.
“The management team can continue to make decisions under their delegated authority.
“There’s no mayor, there’s no point, we can’t meet or function, we need a minimum of four to do that.“
Mr Hood said there was a “mixed reaction” from the community.
“They see it as a threat to normal processes,” he said.
“We’ve been elected to do a job, that has come to an end, others are seeking some sort of accountability or some legal process.
“But we are aware that the state government is pushing through some changes to Section 229 of the Local Government Act … so they are going to make some changes to the law, that will prevent this from happening again.”
The local government minister may appoint an administrator to the council in light of the lack of sitting members.
“It may well be that it’s the only available option,” Mr Hood said.
“Any controversy comes with a cost, there certainly will be reputational damage in this case, and particularly until that plays out in the courts.”
