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Volume 14, Wednesday, April 5, 2017
We’re changing: council
WRITTEN BY AMANDA HUDSON
W
hile a S outh Australian Ombudsman report has raised serious concerns about the past dealings of Roxby Council, significant changes have been already made according to new Administrator, Geoff Whitbread.
Speaking to The Monitor last week, Mr Whitbread said the report – which came about after a complaint to the Office for Public Integrity - had not come as a surprise. “For me there are three clear take outs from this report, none of them are surprising because they have been identified earlier on, some months ago,” he said.
“It really comes down to systems; having the correct systems in the organisation, and correct policies, because we are a public entity spending public funds and we need to be publicly accountable, so this report from the ombudsman underpins those observations.” The 64-page document addressed whether Roxby Council and previous administrator Bill Boehm had committed “maladministration in public administration by a course of conduct involving inappropriate expenditure and other administrative practices”. SA Ombudsman Wayne Lines’ report noted that he “did not find any evidence of dishonesty on Mr Boehm’s part” and, as he was no longer employed by Roxby Council, said he did not “consider it necessary to make any recommendations in relation to his conduct
as an individual”. However, Mr Lines did find that the council had committed maladministration through its use of directly engaging consultants named as “Mr A” and “Mr B” for various projects, resulting in “substantial mismanagement of public resources”. Furthermore, he said Mr Boehm had committed an act of maladministration in public administration by entering into contracts without tendering “or having given proper consideration to tendering”, as well as failing “to keep proper records in relation to those contracts”, failing to “implement a tender policy between 2000 and 2003” and failing “to comply with tender policies once implemented”. Mr Lines also found that the council had
acted in a way that was “wrong” under the Ombudsman Act around its bullying and violence procedure, not appointing an Equal Opportunity Officer, and disposing of records. The investigation considered information provided by Mr Boehm, the complainant, former consultants and advisers, current and former council staff, a former community board chairperson, former Member for Giles Lyn Breuer, Paul Heithersay (Resource Infrastructure & Investment Task Force, Department for State Development) and Mr Whitbread. It included examination of a range of concerns raised about the council, and resulted in the ombudsman making four recommendations: CONTINUED - PAGE 2
Mock crash intrigues at expo A large crowd watched local police and emergency services crews put their skills on show in a ‘mock crash’ exercise at Saturday’s Happy Healthy Expo. FULL STORY - PAGE 3
ICE
It shatters communities and it does not discriminate. Help us crack the ice epidemic. South Australia’s Ministerial Ice Taskforce needs your help to find an effective, state-wide solution. We want your ideas about how to prevent take-up, how to intervene early, and what treatment works for different levels of dependence.
SHATTERS
LIVES
Visit yoursay.sa.gov.au/decisions/ice-taskforce Submissions close 7 April 2017 ONC/17623