Four Oaks at sixes and sevens

FOUR Oaks Ward hasn’t had a lot of luck with its selection of councillors.
The erstwhile and notorious former councillor Roland Abraham, after surviving a sixday court case early last year, accused of making a false statement in relation to his election, will be back in court on Friday, 3 March this year.
He is charged on summons with attempting to obtain financial advantage by deception, and making and using false documents.
Councillor Rob Wilson has to be looking down the barrel of a pecuniary interest issue over his handling of the Strathaird light towers scandal.
Councillor Paul Richardson ‘lost it’ during a council team building weekend and verbally lashed out at another councillor.
River Gum Ward councillor and former mayor Janet Halsall went home because she felt threatened by his behaviour.
This led Cr Halsall’s husband, Bob, who apparently wasn’t all that amused over the issue, to pen a letter of complaint to Casey mayor Kevin Bradford.
Some teambuilding weekend.
I’ve had words with Cr Richardson on three occasions because of his protocol and courtesy or lack of it.
He just doesn’t understand and needs to read Dale Carnegie.
Cr Abraham was last year accused of rewording an email sent to him by Ballarat University in order to convince the council that it should cover the cost of a business course. Police last week charged him on summons. It was alleged that he changed the wording of the email sent from the university so it would support a claim for reimbursement of fees for a business management course.
Cr Richardson got himself into trouble when he became ‘very heated’ because he couldn’t get his own way during a roleplaying exercise.
The matter was dealt with during a council in camera committee meeting with an unpleasant result for Cr Richardson.
The in camera committee motion read: “That council notes the letter of complaint about the intimidating actions of Cr Richardson towards another councillor and that Cr Richardson meet with the mayor for counselling about the form of a letter of apology to be sent within seven days to the other councillor. That the matter be further considered in camera at the next council meeting.”
Cr Wilson has to be on the knifeedge of having a pecuniary interest over nonpayment for light poles he ordered for Strathaird Reserve, costing just over $30,000.
The matter came before the council on Tuesday, 6 December in the form of an application to fund the poles through a government grant application, but was moved in camera. For some reason the light towers were taken off the list of grant applications and Cr Wilson was left holding the bag, or bill, so to speak.
However, he insisted that he could vote on the motion to go in camera.
My view is that this was most unwise.
He should have been taken to task over the issue, but the question is whose responsibility is the accountability of councillors?