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Tuesday 28 February 2023
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Duck dash A RUBBER duck race at Kananook Creek earlier this month raised more than $6000. The money will be distributed to local community groups. See story page 4. Picture: Supplied
Suspended councillor faces fresh allegations Brodie Cowburn brodie@baysidenews.com.au SUSPENDED Frankston councillor Steven Hughes is facing more allegations of serious misconduct. Hughes has defied an arbiter’s order to apologise to council staff for his handling of a petition last year. Arbiter Matthew Evans found that Hughes had failed to treat council staff with “dignity, fairness, objectivity, courtesy, and respect”.
The deadline for the apology has passed, and Hughes has refused to say sorry. Frankston councillors voted to apply for a councillor conduct panel at their 20 February meeting, alleging Hughes had engaged in “multiple acts of serious misconduct”. Hughes’ refusal to apologise, and a series of bizarre Facebook posts made last month which mentioned North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Un, were listed as reasons for the application (“Kim Jong-Un ‘helps restore democracy’” The Times 6/2/23).
The suspended Hughes and his son, councillor Liam Hughes, were absent from the chamber when the vote to apply for the conduct panel was taken. Steven Hughes is already expected to face a councillor conduct panel later this year to defend a separate serious misconduct allegation. The petition which sparked the latest issue was from residents on Ozone Avenue. In a new social media post made on 21 February, Hughes doubled down on his decision not to apologise to council staff. He wrote “apologising to a coun-
cil that acts as unethically and disrespectfully towards Frankston residents, whether they be in Seaford, Langwarrin or beyond, is entirely unacceptable.” “I recognise the seriousness [of] my decision. Failure to apologise will lead to further legal action, a guaranteed suspension and possible dismissal from council,” Hughes wrote. “While I will not say sorry to council I will apologise to you, the residents of Frankston, for the relentless development that is destroying the livability of Frankston. Frankston has the potential to be the
premier city on the bay. Instead we have congestion from non-stop townhouse development, crumbling roads, nature reserves bulldozed and a CBD that resembles Pripyat (Chernobyl) circa 1986, all while you pay the highest rates in the bayside region.” Councillor Kris Bolam said that Hughes’ social media activity and lack of apology to council staff “is something we should take very seriously, and councillors should be calling out this kind of misbehaviour.” Continued page 2
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