Council last night granted a Leave of Absence for Councillor John Arkan in response to his request to be excused from Council duties from 28 September 2017 until 7 December 2017.
In granting the request, Council also – in accordance with section 254A of the Local Government Act – agreed that Cr Arkan’s fees would not be paid during his absence.
Council would like to emphasise that it has no legislative authority to take action against an individual for matters that are outside Council’s official functions.
The Code of Conduct, that guides all NSW councils, is applied only to issues within the conduct of Council functions. If a complaint was received under Council’s Code of Conduct, specifically regarding the way in which Council business was conducted, the process could be applied. However, there are no provisions for Council to take any action for matters outside of its control.
Similarly, from the available information in the media, it does not appear that matters dealt with recently in local court proceedings would prevent an individual from holding public office under the Local Government Act.
