TENS of thousands of dollars of ratepayers’ money has been spent investigating several code of conduct complaints by Frankston councillors against fellow councillors in the past few months. Lawyers have been paid by Frankston Council on at least three occasions to hear evidence and make rulings on internal complaints about some councillors’ comments on social media and to the press. Councillors Darrel Taylor and Suzette Tayler were found to have breached council’s code of conduct by legal representatives called in by council. The two councillors made comments on Facebook ruled to be in breach of council’s conduct code and must…
Author: Neil Walker
FEDERAL Dunkley Liberal MP Chris Crewther has responded to the first protest held outside his Frankston office since he was elected in July. The MP noted “a small quiet group of people” from Christian organisation Love Makes A Way visited his Davey St electorate office on Wednesday 17 August (“Protest for refugees”, The Times 22/8/16) to raise concerns about the treatment of asylum seekers highlighted by the leak of more than 2000 incident reports from Australia’s detention centre on Nauru. Mr Crewther said the front door was locked “as a result of security concerns raised by the Australian Federal Police”.…
THE St Kilda Football Club’s welcome back to Moorabbin Reserve, and impending exit from Seaford, is official after Kingston Council voted to approve a 50-year lease at Linton St for the AFL club. Kingston councillors voted at a public council meeting last Monday evening (22 August) to give the Saints a 25-year lease with an option for a further 25 years despite some community concern about a $420,000 rates discount over the first decade of the lease. An 84 per cent reduction on building rent means the football club will pay $80,000 rather than $500,000 in building rent over the…
MENTAL health workers walked off the job for two hours on Tuesday 9 August in protest over “violent incidents and increasing demand” at Peninsula Community Mental Health Service at Frankston Hospital. The Health and Community Services Union (HACSU) said extra staffing and safety for staff should be a top priority and is demanding a new enterprise bargaining agreement “to improve service delivery, staffing levels and safety for workers and consumers”. “We need a system that meets the demand, we need to attract, retain and value the work of mental health workers in order to meet this demand,” HSU representative Paul…
DEBTS have forced the Frankston Football Club to go into voluntary administration. The Dolphins called in administrators Worrells Solvency and Forensic Accountants and the VFL club’s players were informed of the shock decision on Friday evening (26 August) as they prepared to face fellow league cellar dwellers North Ballarat on Saturday in the team’s final game of the season. The football club is believed to be struggling under about $800,000 worth of debts. Worrells issued a statement at the weekend saying it was too early to comment on the reasons for the Dolphins’ plight. The administrator stated two meetings will be…