A parliamentary question regarding an alleged breach of the Local Government Act 1995 by Councillor Sylvan Albert of the City of Bayswater for not voting on an item. The response details the department's investigation process.

AnsweredQoN 865Legislative Council
Asked
21 August 2014
Portfolio
Local Government

QuestionView source ↗

CITY OF
BAYSWATER — COUNCILLOR SYLVAN ALBERT
865. Hon ALANNA CLOHESY to the
minister representing the Minister for Local Government:
I refer to a complaint that was submitted to the Department
of Local Government in January 2014 alleging that in October 2013 at a special
meeting of the council of the City of Bayswater, Councillor Sylvan Albert
committed a serious breach under the Local Government Act 1995 by not voting on
an item as required under section 5.21 of the act.
(1) Can the
minister please detail the process used by the department to investigate this
complaint, including —
(a) the names of
the City of Bayswater councillors and any other personnel who were interviewed;
(b) who conducted these interviews;
(c) how these interviews were
conducted;
(d) the questions asked; and
(e) the time frame of the interviews?
(2) What was the
evidence that the department used in concluding that the City of Bayswater
minutes from the relevant meeting were incorrectly recorded?

AnswerView source ↗

I thank the member for some notice of the question.
(1) (a) No
interview was conducted. However, a meeting was held with the City of Bayswater's
chief executive officer to discuss the allegation and the council meeting in
question;
(b) officers from the Department
of Local Government and Communities;
(c)–(e)
refer to the answer to (1)(a) above. Councillor Albert was requested to respond
to the allegation in writing.
(2) The
evidence was Councillor Albert's response to the allegation; information
obtained from the City of Bayswater's chief executive officer on the
proceedings of the council meeting in question, and the City of Bayswater
standing orders local law that related to the meeting processes and voting
requirements.

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