By Vic Pennisi
I remember the first time I received notice that I had a formal complaint lodged against me.
The system was different back then.
Most times you were notified before a decision was made unlike today where the first notice you receive generally tells you that you have been cleared.
None the less the first time I received a complaint sent me into a spin.
To say I was doing backflips and front flips was an understatement.
I immediately engaged legal counsel at my expense and sent my first letter of information request to the panel and waited, and waited.
It absorbed my life cost me personally a heap of money, and eventually it took the decision makers on the day marked for the hearing, about 4 minutes to decide that the complaint had no substance.
At the time I was sitting in my solicitor’s office waiting for the decision, sweating, shaking, and wondering what the final cost was going to be.
Today the system is a little different as generally, the first you hear about a complaint is when you receive a letter telling you it has been dismissed.
The thing about complaints is that it is a system that has been introduced to hold councillors to account because of historic behaviour of other councils and councillors in Queensland.
When a complaint is sent to the OIA the OIA will determine if the complaint has substance and needs further investigating or not and then deals with it accordingly, it is no longer the Mayor’s role to do that, despite public belief.
Unfortunately today some people have weaponised the system and use it as a tool to “hurt” those of us who have been democratically elected by the majority of voters.
There are a number of realities we must keep foremost in our mind when we talk about receiving complaints
• The system is designed to hold us to account
• The system allows anonymous complaints (I am not suggesting it should)
• It is an obligation that is imposed upon all councillors to lodge a complaint if we believe that a councillor has acted inappropriately
• It is not the role of the Mayor to decide (outside of a meeting) if a councillor’s complaint has substance.
• The voting public can also lodge a complaint with or without their name attached to it and either way the whistle blowers legislation protects their identity.
• From where I sit I do not know the identity of those who have lodged against me and consequently they are potentially all anonymous. (out of over 50 I have only been made aware of 3).
I have experienced people using the system as a weapon from the very first complaint I received, and it did affect me at the time.
Having received more than five score since then I view them with not as much concern these days.
This term alone I have received circa 30+ and unlike popular belief, they have been for a wide spectrum of reasons.
I personally believe that there is not one councillor around our table who is not doing their best to represent our region.
The volume of complaints lodged against councillors is very hurtful when you are on the receiving end.
I was accused of being corrupt leading up to the last election, another unfounded example of gutter politics.
I could take all of the 31+ complaints in this term personally and fight back vigorously screaming “victim” and targeting those I might believe are the authors and give them some grief back, or, I could take it on board and suffer silently as many do and take it to heart, lose self-esteem and become an ineffective representative, or, I can realise that someone else has the problem, because I know in my heart that I don’t deliberately set out to do those things I have been accused of, and in my many cases the OIA has agreed.
As Mayor I need to rise above all of this and focus on what I was elected to do and that is to make decisions for the people who gave me their trust.
I will continue to let process and the OIA advise me if I need to be concerned.
If I have issues with the system, I will share my concerns with the decision makers that can change the system.
I am grateful that I was given a hearing in relation to the review of the current system which consequently has made over 40 recommendations to the government in relation to how the system might be tweaked.
I look forward to the ongoing debate and I will stay focused on inputting at that level and at the appropriate time, and in the meantime I will continue to stay focused on delivering for the people of Southern Downs and I will not be distracted by those who “Play the Game”.
For those of you contemplating running for the next election do not be concerned.
The system does allow for grandstanding and playing the “I am a victim card”.
If you are contemplating, know that you will get some complaints lodged against you at some stage.
I see it personally like having a baby and thinking that you won’t get a dirty nappy, because you will, just change the nappy and accept the fact, it is so much easier.
However also know that the reward of making a difference far outweighs the cost of being on the receiving end of what is sometimes poorly understood.
