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Tuesday 31 January 2023
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Gifted runners
THE Frankston Gift has been run and the winners have been crowned. Zoe Neale, the winner of the women’s 70 metre gift, was awarded her winner’s sash by Dunkley MP Peta Murphy (pictured above) See story page 2. Pictures: Supplied
Councillor served with second suspension Brodie Cowburn brodie@baysidenews.com.au FRANKSTON councillor Steven Hughes has been suspended for a second time. An arbiter has ruled that Hughes must serve a one month suspension and provide an apology to council staff for his behaviour. This is the second onemonth suspension handed to Hughes since his election in 2020. The most recent arbitration process was initiated by seven of Hughes’ fellow councillors last year. They signed
a written dispute statement alleging Hughes had engaged in misconduct. Hughes and his son, deputy mayor Liam Hughes, were the only councillors to not sign the dispute statement. Eight allegations of misconduct were made against Hughes. Arbiter Matthew Evans found that four of them were breaches of Frankston Council’s code of conduct. He dismissed the other four allegations. Hughes has been ordered to apologise to council staff over his handling of a petition from Ozone Avenue residents. The arbiter’s decision read that Hughes
breached the code of conduct as he had not treated staff with “dignity, fairness, objectivity, courtesy, and respect”. “Councillor Hughes derided council staff in front of the elected council and senior officers of the council, after he formed a position on this matter without providing substantial evidence,” the decision read. Two of the other code of conduct breaches were a result of Hughes’ social media activity. The arbiter substantiated allegations that Hughes had breached the code by failing to remove the posts that caused his first suspension in 2021.
He also breached the code in a post comparing Frankston Council’s rates to those in other municipalities, the arbiter found. Hughes was also found in breach of the code of conduct over a heated email sent to the mayor Nathan Conroy, which was copied to all councillors. The email exchange was sparked by a memorandum sent by the mayor to all councillors on the topic of councillor behaviour (“Councillor conduct prompts memo from mayor” The Times 3/5/2022). Conroy told The Times that council is “satisfied the findings of the arbiter are
fair and considered and we are pleased to have the matter concluded.” “Councillors are working extremely hard for their community and when this is done together the community clearly benefits,” he said. “It’s important to have a good relationship with all councillors and I will continue to do that for the interest of our community.” Council has confirmed that Hughes will not be paid, or have access to council resources during his suspension. Hughes was contacted for comment. Continued page 3
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