Ten Whittlesea councillors are pushing for mayor Aidan McLindon to face internal arbitration over alleged breaches of the Model Councillor Code of Conduct.
The councillors are due to hold an unscheduled council meeting on Tuesday, February 4 – which will be closed to the public as it has been designated confidential – to discuss the potential breaches of the code by Cr McLindon.
The Model Code of Conduct sets out the standards for the behaviour and responsibilities of councillors across the state.
Leaked council meeting papers seen by Star Weekly, reveal that councillors Blair Colwell and Deb Gunn intend to move an urgent business motion alleging Cr McLindon breached the code on more than one occasion in the media and in social media posts in the lead up to and during his candidacy for the Werribee state by-election.
“This urgent business motion cannot safely or conveniently be considered at the next scheduled council meeting due to the nature of the behaviour of the mayor, Cr McLindon, escalating, in part due to his candidacy for the Werribee by-election,” the motion states.
As reported by Star Weekly, Cr McLindon – who was elected as Whittlesea’s mayor on November 19 – is contesting the seat of Werribee following the resignation of long-serving MP Tim Pallas.
After initially declaring that he would not stand down as mayor during the by-election campaign, Cr McLindon is currently on personal leave from council.
The motion asks council to make an urgent formal application within 24 hours of Tuesday’s meeting for an internal arbitration process.
It also asks that deputy mayor Daniela Zinni write to Local Government Minister Melissa Horne on behalf of the 10 councillors – Colwell, Gunn, Zinni, Christine Stow, David Lenberg, Lawrie Cox, Nic Brooks, Martin Taylor, Stevan Kozmevski and Jarrod Lappin – requesting the arbitration be expedited.
Cr McLindon said he intends to attend Tuesday’s meeting despite his leave of absence from council.
He has labelled the allegations as a “political witch hunt”.
The unscheduled council meeting comes as more than 700 people signed a petition calling for Cr McLindon to resign as mayor.
The petition, started by long-term Whittlesea resident Troy Steans, claims locals have lost faith in Cr McLindon’s ability to carry out his duties as mayor.
Mr Steans said residents have waited four years to have elected representatives after the previous councillors were sacked by the state government in March 2020.
“He has been there for nine weeks and is already looking at the next best thing he can jump on to,” he said.
“If you look at his career in politics, there’s a lot of jumping around.
“I’m going to send [the petition] off per the guidelines on the [Whittlesea council] website and we’ll wait and see if the [chief executive] accepts it or not.”
Mr Steans said there were also concerns Cr McLindon might decide to stand in the federal election, which must be held before the end of May.
“The current mayor’s decision to pursue another political role so soon after being elected to serve our city reflects a disregard for the trust placed in him by the residents. His actions suggest that he is more focused on advancing his personal political career rather than fulfilling the promises he made to the community,” the petition reads.
“We believe that the mayor’s actions have undermined public confidence and trust in his leadership.”
Cr McLindon hit back at the call for him to stand down, saying his opponents are continuing to attack him.
“There are approximately 165,000 residents who can vote in Whittlesea,” he said.
“When the petition reaches 82,501 I promise I will immediately resign from my role as mayor.”
With Tara Murray and Jaidyn Kennedy
