COLAC OTWAY SHIRE councillor Chris Smith says he’s confident a court case will show he’s innocent of alleged conflict of interest charges.
Councillor confident of beating conflict of interest charges
5 Responses to “Councillor confident of beating conflict of interest charges”
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Get with it people! We’ve had the same people in multiple community and business groups passing the same ideas around for years. A couple have left in the last 12-18mths, but we still need more fresh blood coming through and putting new idea’s out there and challenging the stale old ones.
If it wasn’t for my health problems id put my hand up and get involved. But as for others, are you scared, lazy or what???
What is a conflict of interest? A reasonable perception of a conflict of interest is where a fair minded person, properly informed as to the nature of the interests held by the decision maker, might reasonably perceive that the decision maker might be influenced in the performance of his or her official duties and responsibilities”. The only conflict I can see is that Cr Smith has acted in the communities best interests, with his volunteering and participation. By Colac Otway Shire Council standards he has clearly not been obstructive enough. He has been too generous with his time. And clearly he has been putting community interests first. All obvious “conflicts” with Shire protocol!
The council has never liked Councilor Smith and because he continues to stand up for himself someone clearly went on a witch hunt and this is the result.Court.He is a superb example of helping out in the community and he used to be on the Youth Council until he was removed from that position by council.Wonder why.He has interests outside of council business and has a life and his integrity is being questioned.Hope he proves them wrong and then sues the council.
I hope our community is made aware of all the facts. Who would authorise the spending of the huge amount of money that will be required to pursue Cr Smith, for being involved in community groups and owning a farm? Correct me if I am wrong, but Cr Smith is a Friend of the Gardens, a membership he paid money to be part of, and a Board member at the hospital, a voluntary position, and because the council gave an undisclosed sum of money to these two very important community groups, a heap of money will be spent on legal fees to attack Cr Smith! This almost sounds like an April fools joke!! Could the Colac Herald please let us know which very important council officials have raised these “outrageous” concerns, and have Authorised the use of a massive sledgehammer to crack what seems like the frailest of egg shells?
A fragile egg he is not. It is time that all conflicts of interest in the Council are examined as his won’t be the only one.