RATEPAYERS will not be asked to foot the bill for a councillor’s legal fees after a local government inspectorate enquiry into his conduct.
Councillors voted behind closed doors on 18 November to use ratepayer money to reimburse Cr Colin Hampton $3630 in legal fees. Cr Hampton was the subject of a local government inspectorate inquiry, but was cleared of wrongdoing (“Ratepayers asked to pay for legal fees”, The Times, 25/11/19).
Councillors voted to rescind that decision at their 16 December meeting.
Crs Glenn Aitken, Kris Bolam, Quinn McCormack, and Michael O’Reilly voted to make Cr Hampton pay his own legal fees. Crs Brian Cunial, Lillian O’Connor and the mayor Sandra Mayer voted to reimburse him.
First published in the Frankston Times – 23 December 2019
