By Cam Lucadou-Wells
Greater Dandenong councillor Angela Long is seeking reimbursement of her personal legal fees in a debate closed to the public on Monday 13 February.
Cr Long is claiming nearly $9000 in costs after initiating legal action against a former councillor Maria Sampey.
After receiving a “very, very nasty” phone call from Ms Sampey, Cr Long says she engaged a solicitor last year.
She was then legally represented in three sessions at Dandenong Magistrates’ Court as she successfully applied for an intervention order.
Cr Long told Star Journal that she wouldn’t have engaged lawyers if she wasn’t “brushed off” by Greater Dandenong’s then-chief executive John Bennie.
“It was an OH&S issue and I didn’t get the support.
“I tried to get something done about it and I was brushed off.”
Her desired support was for council-hired lawyers or the council to write to Ms Sampey to say “you’re not allowed to do it”, she said.
According to council policy, legal support is given to councillors if they’re prosecuted by an external individual.
However, in this case, Cr Long was the litigant. Legal support is only provided after a vote by councillors if it’s decided that “such support is in Council’s interest”.
The matter was marked ‘confidential’ in the upcoming council meeting agenda, but details had already emerged from leaked council papers published by the Facebook site ‘Dandenong Council Watch’.
“When it’s confidential, nothing should leak from council,” Cr Long said.
“I’ve been on council a hell of a long bloody time and I’ve never leaked any confidential information out.”
Cr Tim Dark said he’d seek to shift the matter from “confidential business” to being debated in public.
“Anything to do with a councillor seeking reimbursement or expenses covered by the ratepayer, and being completely outside the policy, should be transparent.”
He was also against ratepayers picking up the tab.
“This comes from a long-standing dispute between a councillor and a former councillor for more than 20 years.
“It’s absurd that one councillor is seeking to have it covered by ratepayers for what is a personal matter.
“What she believes she is entitled to and what the law says she’s entitled to are two different things.”
Mayor Eden Foster said she understood the debate would occur in-camera because it was a “staffing matter”.
She’d seek clarification from chief executive Jacqui Weatherill, she said.
Cr Jim Memeti declined to comment.
Ratepayers Victoria president Dean Hurlston, who runs the Dandenong Council Watch site, said it was “absolutely unacceptable” for ratepayers money to be used for a councillor’s “own (legal) actions against private residents”.
“Cr Long should withdraw the request or resign as a councillor.
“This doesn’t pass any pub test and just demonstrates contempt for ratepayers.”
Last year, the conflict between the two former mayors turned a council meeting into chaos.
The meeting was suddenly halted for 40 minutes, with Ms Sampey told to leave the public gallery due to an interim intervention order taken out by Cr Long.
It was eventually found that Ms Sampey was entitled to stay in the gallery.
There was no 200-metre exclusion zone as alleged, and Ms Sampey sought and later received a public apology from the council.
