Dubbo councillors will vote on Monday to decide if an independent investigator will be contracted to look into council.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Deputy Mayor Stephen Lawrence has submitted a notice of motion for the May ordinary council meeting in relation to the investigator.
It states that he wants to move forward on the appointment of an independent investigator to "inquire into matters of concern to councillors and report on systemic issues in a way consistent with the code of conduct".
Cr Lawrence is calling for Local Government NSW to nominate someone for the investigator's role.
ALSO MAKING NEWS:
In his notice of motion he said the investigator would be tasked with auditing past code of conduct complaints over the term of council to ascertain that the processes that were adopted complied with the relevant code of conduct processes.
He wants the investigator to "interview all councillors, all directors and other staff and community members as they see fit" before reporting back to council in July - or later if decided the councillors - to determine whether council has been "compliant with its legal and regulatory obligations and to report on any systemic issues arising from the investigations".
The investigator will be separate from the current code of conduct processes. Ten complaints are known to be in the process of being investigated by O'Connor Marsden and Associates.
The majority of councillors have previously supported bringing in an investigator, as well as Dubbo MP Dugald Saunders and Deputy Premier John Barilaro.
Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the public gallery at Monday's meeting will be limited. However, it will be livestreamed on the council website and Facebook page from 5.30pm.
LOVE LOCAL NEWS? SIGN UP FOR OUR DAILY NEWSLETTER