Late in its last general meeting, there was a motion from Ballina Crs Kiri Dicker and Phil Meehan that Cr Rod Bruem should apologise to General Manager Paul Hickey, Cr Jeff Johnson, Cr Johnson’s family, council employees and staff at Premium Solar for any damage caused by recent comments made by Cr Bruem relating to the $70,000 contract awarded to Premium Solar at Ballina Memorial Swimming Pool.
Cr Bruem said his comments on social media and elsewhere had been motivated by the fact that ‘a contract had been awarded to a councillor to put solar panels up on the building’, and he wasn’t satisfied by staff responses to what he claimed was a breach of guidelines for the purchase of goods and services which ‘may be considered controversial, contentious or political.’
Politicised, not political
GM Paul Hickey said the contract wasn’t awarded to a councillor, but to a local business in which Cr Johnson had an interest. ‘I do not believe this was a political purchase,’ he said. ‘I believe it’s been politicised, from my knowledge.
‘I don’t think we’ve got one member of the community who’s written to council about this process,’ said the GM. He went on to suggest a lot of comments on social media were based on misinformation spread by Cr Bruem.
Rod Bruem appealed to the mayor at this point, who dismissed his objection and allowed GM Hickey to continue.
‘This is my chance to try and correct some of the misinformation that you have placed on social media,’ said Mr Hickey.
‘So let’s be clear, we do not believe it’s a political process. There were no complaints to council. There were councillors involved in the process putting out incorrect information. That was really disappointing, and I’ve seen good people who are involved in the process really upset about this.
‘As the mayor said before, we need to be civil, respectful, and when you post social media, make sure it’s factually correct as well.’
Cr Steve McCarthy said that if there was any evidence of possible corruption, the appropriate process was to send that through to ICAC ‘where they would investigate and endeavor to find the truth, not do it through social media, where ill-informed community members embrace it.’
He said trust between elected councillors and staff was all-important, and there was no evidence that there had been any wrong-doing in the recent solar tender process.
Cr Simon Chate agreed, saying unfounded public assertions ‘on well populated social media groups do nothing but undermine the public’s trust in our council.’
Weak and political gaslighting
Cr Chate went on to describe what had happened recently as ‘weak and political gaslighting designed to whip up a frenzy’.
He said that the integrity of Cr Johnson (not present at the meeting to defend himself) had been questioned, although Premium Solar had gone through the standard quotation process, and there was nothing improper about the behaviour of council staff.
(Mr Hickey has noted elsewhere that three quotes were received, and the winning one was significantly cheaper).
Cr Kiri Dicker went further, telling Cr Bruem ‘if you don’t want to fight, then you shouldn’t throw the first punch.’ She then said ‘the fact remains that comments that you have made on social media have had the effect of damaging the reputation of Cr Jeff Johnson and the General Manager.
‘They have damaged the business reputation of Premium Solar, which is a small business that employs six staff, and they’ve undermined confidence in council – and that has happened deliberately,’ said Cr Dicker.
‘These are not accidental acts, but deliberate strategy.’ She then foreshadowed the motion calling on Cr Bruem to apologise for his behaviour.
Cr Rod Bruem responded by claiming he was acting in the public interest. ‘At the end of the day, should I decide to run for council again, the public can have their say on whether I did the right thing or not, because I’m answerable to the public. I’m not answerable to anyone in this room, and I’m not answerable to the General Manager.’
The discussion then degenerated into an argument about whether the General Manager had said he’d been reading Cr Bruem’s emails, an accusation GM Hickey firmly denied, noting that Cr Bruem had a pattern of ‘totally inappropriate’ behaviour.
In relation to his own performance appraisal, Mr Hickey said to Cr Bruem, ‘We had a confidential, robust discussion, and you’ve released a lot of that information into the public domain as well, which are multiple breaches of the Code of Conduct.
‘This is what I have to deal with, Madam Mayor, in this role. It’s very difficult, especially with Cr Bruem on my performance panel, which is totally inappropriate.’
Sorry or not?
Returning to the foreshadowed apology motion, Cr Kiri Dicker said it was important ‘because people have been harmed and damage has been done, which can’t be repaired.’
”Whether or not Cr Bruem chooses to apologise is on him. It seems from his comments that he probably won’t, but that’s on him. The fact is, we need to put it on the public record as a way of atoning for the damage that’s been done.’
Cr Bruem said this was ‘a political stunt’.
Cr Phil Meehan said describing the motion as a political stunt was ‘not even in the space of reality’, noting that Cr Bruem’s ‘completely incorrect information’ was still available on social media and being presented as fact.
Cr Simon Chate noted that Ballina Council ‘could censure a councilor for behavior like this, but we’re choosing not to do that. We’re asking Cr Bruem to apologise, to show some humility for what has been an atrocious week, which has harmed all of us.’
Mayor Sharon Cadwallader then said she wanted to give Cr Bruem the opportunity to deal with the matter immediately. ‘If he decides to extend an apology, as per the motion, I think that would probably solve the problem here and now.’
All councillors present (apart from Cr Bruem) then voted in support of the apology motion.
Cr Bruem did not apologise, saying instead that he would like to take some time to consider. Mayor Cadwallader accepted this.
Shortly afterwards Cr Bruem left the meeting, and did not return.
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