Step down, for Casey’s sake

CLEARLY, Casey councillors have made a controversial choice in their selection of mayor.
Casey, we are told time and again, is one of the fastest growing and best managed councils in Australia.
That, unfortunately it seems, is not because of its councillors.
While the City of Casey administration is top class and highly respected, this is not always the case for its board of directors, the council.
I have said before that I hear accolades from across Australia, directed toward the administration, and chances are I will say it again.
However, one section of the elected council is going from one public relations disaster to another and I am loath to blame this on party politics because persistent criticism I hear comes from both sides of the political spectrum.
My colleague Rebecca Fraser (Berwick News and Cranbourne News 1 December) worked well and with a degree of care for her story, Mayor Stitched Me Up: Rival, to reveal the mayor’s latest game playing.
Put simply, a former council colleague and friend, Angela Dunleavy, claimed she had arranged for Cr Kevin Bradford to have her election brochures printed while she was overseas on a private trip.
But he didn’t. See www.starnewsgroup.com.au
My story (Gazette, 30 November) reported Cr Bradford saying that voters were not concerned about a civil damages case he faced.
He said the court case involved personal issues and were not criminal.
A former prisoner has taken action against Cr Bradford for what she claims to be personal injury, mental injury, embarrassment and humiliation.
She claimed that she was sexually assaulted while in custody.
This type of baggage brought to the council by the mayor is impacting horribly on his colleagues.
One day as mayor and he is in more trouble.
How he expected to stand for such a highprofile public office with these issues unresolved is beyond my comprehension.
Cr Bradford passed off Ms Dunleavy’s claims by saying that candidates were responsible for their own election campaign.
He said he had assisted in Ms Dunleavy’s campaign, but would not disclose the nature of his assistance.
I can remember that Ms Dunleavy was most helpful to him when he first became a councillor and found himself in a tight spot because of personal issues.
Rebecca’s story has Ms Dunleavy calling for Cr Bradford to stand down or be sacked from the council.
My view (9 November) said three councillors involved in an attack on the Casey chief executive would be better off the council.
One is gone, two remain, and one was Cr Bradford.
Perhaps Angela Dunleavy has a point.
Even in the event of these issues being over, or even highly dramatised, this incumbent mayor should review his position and heed Ms Dunleavy’s timely advice in the interest of the City of Casey.
He is the target for a high level of public concern and that does not serve the mayoralty or the community well.