By CAMERON LUCADOU-WELLS
“THEY tried to catch two sharks and came up with tadpoles.”
That was Greater Dandenong councillor Maria Sampey’s conclusion after reading an edited version of the council’s confidential probe into her and Cr Peter Brown.
Cr Sampey said she and other councillors were unable to publicly disclose the version’s contents due to a confidentiality agreement.
But in general terms, she said the version listed “a lot of false allegations” including a”trivial and irrelevant” matter in 2009 but no findings against her and Cr Brown.
Cr Sampey, whose medical leave was last week extended until the end of January, said she remained stressed and anxious about the probe.
“The (complainants) have said whatever they liked about me in the report and I have no right of reply.”
The probe into the two councillors had been launched by chief executive John Bennie and then-mayor Angela Long in May.
It was alleged that council officers felt “hurt and distressed” by the accused pair’s conduct when they criticised a bungled footpath built over a mound in Noble Park.
Last week, the council again stated that neither the full report or a redacted version would be publicly released, nor the cost of the inquiry.
Acting chief executive Jody Bosman said the council “will not be making comment and that will remain our stance”.
“It’s an internal and confidential investigation. It is not a public inquiry.”
Cr Sampey, who with Cr Brown have argued for the report to be made public, said: “If it was being made public, the people who led the investigation would be a laughing stock.
“There was no formal complaint made. It’s just a witch-hunt.
“They’ve wasted about $14,000 of ratepayers’ money on this.”
She was steadfast in lodging a complaint to the Victorian Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission.
Cr Brown said he won’t read the redacted version.
“I really don’t want to read the content about people sitting in a room making allegations that won’t make the light of day.
“It’s being buried to protect the council officers who have things to say.
“Some of the things they say are quite unsavoury and they’re untrue.
“If that saw the light of day, Maria Sampey and I will rip into them.”
Mayor Jim Memeti said last Tuesday that he hoped to read the redacted report “in the next week or so”.
