LORD mayor Nuatali Nelmes is facing public pressure to ensure any investigation into the Scott Neylon letter-writing controversy is independent of council.
Local Government Minister Ron Hoenig said on Monday he would write to Cr Nelmes requesting an investigation into council boss Jeremy Bath's close friend's misleading letter-writing campaign, which was revealed in the Newcastle Herald on Saturday.
Now Wallsend MP Sonia Hornery, who has been an loggerheads with council for months over the leasing of its inland pools and the prime target of Mr Neylon's most recent letters, has called publicly on Cr Nelmes to ensure the process is independent.
Ms Hornery said the Herald stories had revealed "inconsistencies" that can only be resolved by a thorough, independent investigation.
She called for any investigation to be conducted independently, and at arms lengths of any council staff, elected councillors or stakeholders with close associations with City of Newcastle, for the sake of transparency.
"If City of Newcastle is being appointed the investigator, the investigation must not be a case of the fox being put in charge of the chicken coop," Ms Hornery said.
"It is of the utmost importance that City of Newcastle appoint an independent investigator and publish the terms of reference of the investigation to ensure due process and transparency."
Mr Neylon has been close friends with Mr Bath for decades and lists his address on the electoral roll at the council CEO's Lake Macquarie home, despite the fact that he has been living in Japan for decades.
His 18 letters, over almost a decade, follow Mr Bath's career progression and his most recent offerings, since his friend was appoint council CEO, support council and target the administration's critics.
Mr Neylon told the Herald via email that Mr Bath never asked him to write the letters and Mr Bath has denied any involvement.
Mr Bath was reappointed at chief executive of the council until December 2027 on a package that saw his earnings reach above half a million dollars a year, in a decision communicated to councillors in a memo in the days before Christmas last year.
The Newcastle Herald reported in January that according to a council memo, a performance review panel - which comprised Labor and Greens councillors with no Liberal or Independent representatives - met on October 27 to offer Mr Bath a new five-year contract to December 12, 2027, with an increase in his "total remuneration package" of 3.5 per cent.
Ms Hornery said given the trust Cr Nelmes and deputy lord mayor Declan Clausen place in Mr Bath, they "must surely welcome the opportunity to clear this up".
"For the interests of democracy, and to prevent further erosion of trust in this council, lord mayor Nuatali Nelmes must appoint an independent investigator to address this matter, anything less would be a betrayal of trust that the voters and ratepayers of Newcastle placed in her," she said.
The Herald has requested comment from Cr Nelmes regarding the investigation.
MORE TO COME.
Do you know more? Donna.page@newcastleherald.com.au
