Allegations of harassment and bullying have been made against the Byron Shire Mayor, Michael Lyon, by The Mullumbimby Residents Association (MRA) following the August 1 Council meeting.
Dale Emerson and Ben Fawcett were speaking on behalf of the MRA on the issue of the Mullumbimby water supply during public access, when they say the mayor’s questioning ‘left Mr Emerson feeling unjustly blamed, humiliated and judged’.
The formal complaint reads, ‘Of particular concern was an incident where the Mayor asked Mr Emerson a question, but would not allow him to complete his answer without interruption. This occurred twice during the exchange’.
‘We believe this behaviour may constitute and was experienced as harassment/bullying as defined in the Council’s Code of Conduct for Councillors 2022, specifically Section 3.6/3.7 relating to harassment and 3.8/3.9 relating to bullying.’
Responding to the allegation, Cr Lyon told The Echo, ‘I completely refute the suggestion that I bullied or harassed Mr Emerson. I asked some pointed questions about the complete lack of financial information provided in their “submission guide” and why they thought it right to omit this relevant information’.
‘You will need to check with staff as to the status of the complaint, but I have been told I have not in any way breached the code of conduct. It is shameful an association purporting to represent residents would omit relevant cost information from a submission guide and that was the point I was making.’
Council staff told The Echo that an investigation will take place ‘as per the code, all complaints are dealt with in accordance with the procedures for administering the Code of Conduct for Councillors 2022, as adopted by Council.’
‘Council will be commencing its investigation of the complaint shortly, and will make a determination on whether or not there has been a breach’.
‘There isn’t a ‘standard procedure’ about how to resolve a breach, because every breach determination is different. Generally though, if a breach is determined then this may result in counselling, training or facilitating discussions between the complainant and the person they have complained about.’
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