Across Australia - the thousands of citizens who have the honour to be elected to sit on councils must be following the travails of Shellharbour council with a degree of consternation.
Shellharbour council degenerated into open warfare between rival political groups and this culminated in accusations that confidential information was leaked to a web site by one of the factions.
The council then took the unusual step of starting legal action in the Land and Environment court. This quickly degenerated into farce, but the action dragged on and ratepayers became alarmed at the steadily increasing legal costs. Eventually, the state government intervened and ordered council to resolve the matter swiftly.
The Land and Environment court finally handed down a ruling. It exonerated one councillor on all charges, dismissed two of three charges against Councillor Helen Stewart - but found her guilty on one charge of passing confidential information to a third party. The court reserved it's decision on costs to be delivered at a later date.
The aftermath of this unfortunate court case is a barrel or worms that will provoke angst for months to come. The council's legal costs are estimated to be at least $ 1.2 million. In all probability, the council will be liable for the legal costs of the exonerated councillor - and may have to pay Helen Stewart's costs in regard to the two dismissed charges.
The unknown is what costs will be awarded against Councillor Stewart is regard to the guilty verdict on one charge. Whatever the outcome of that decision, Councillor Stewart has spent an estimated one hundred thousand dollars of her own money defending the charges in court. She has mortgaged her home to meet these costs.
What must have councillors sitting on councils throughout Australia pondering is the ramifications of political in-fighting resulting in court action - as happened at Shellharbour council.
Being elected a councillor was once an honour. That person gave of his or her time to serve the community - and there was no question of personal financial loss.
The Shellharbour case changed all that. If for matters of political expediency a council decides to take legal action against it's own councillors - then that person can end up financially ruined by the cost of mounting a defence.
It is a sobering thought. Maybe now pundits in the insurance industry will plug that gap by offering those in public office insurance protection against such court costs - and maybe the more affluent in society may decide against standing for the local council !
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