The identity of the writer of the defamatory poison-pen emails about senior staff and councillors at Hurstville is still a secret despite the council possessing a report meant to shed light on the matter.
The council-commissioned KPMG report was to have been discussed in private at the council meeting on March 4 but has been deferred for two weeks.
‘‘Jane Doe’’, ‘‘Deep Throat’’, ‘‘concerned resident’’ and ‘‘Elvis Presley Is Alive’’ have been sending emails for more than 12 months to people, including journalists and MPs, making allegations of corruption, cronyism and sexual impropriety against Hurstville councillors and staff.
The councillors voted to have the emails investigated by KPMG.
Several councillors have said that the report should be discussed in an open council meeting and Cr Brent Thomas attempted to get an urgency motion through to allow that.
But mayor Con Hindi overruled him, saying the report could not be discussed in public as it was confidential and contained references to council staff whose privacy had to be protected under local government guidelines.
Councillors did not have the same protection.
Cr Thomas urged that ‘‘in order to provide clarity and assurance to the ratepayers of Hurstville Council and the public at large, and to address concerns around secrecy, KPMG be commissioned to undertake an additional, urgent report which is produced in a format which can be made public and discussed in open council meetings’’.
See more in Tuesday's Leader.
