Mayor’s conflict confusion

By Ed Merrison
CONFUSION reigned at last week’s Strategic Planning Committee (SPC) meeting as Knox mayor David Cooper missed out on a vote on account of a conflict of interest.
For the second time since his election as councillor in December 2004, Cr Cooper declared a conflict of interest relating to the development of Stamford Park House in Rowville.
The declaration came as councillors discussed the make-up of a steering committee on which the mayor would automatically sit with three other councillors.
Cr Cooper was asked by Dinsdale Ward councillor Adam Gill whether his conflict of interest, declared at an SPC meeting on Tuesday, 14 December 2004 still applied.
In response, Cr Cooper said he was ‘absolutely confident’ he had no conflict of interest. Cr Cooper then sought clarification from council CEO Graeme Emonson which led him to change his mind and he then left the chamber.
Cr Cooper has since said he left the chamber for reasons of expediency and not to not reflect badly on the position of the mayor.
Cr Cooper said he was currently seeking legal advice on the matter to determine his position.
“Once legal advice is obtained, I’ll be able to almost certainly confirm that I don’t have and never have had a conflict of interest, and if I have declared one in the past that was because of a lack of clarity at the time,” he said.
Cr Cooper explained at a council meeting on Tuesday, 15 October 2005 that his conflict of interest issued from a donation by a landholder abutting Stamford Park during 2004 by-election campaign.
This fuelled speculation that the donation was made by Danny Szaintop, with whom the council has entered compensation proceedings soon to be heard by the Victorian Civil Administrative Tribunal (VCAT).
Those proceedings follow years of failed negotiations for a tract of land compulsorily acquired by the council to provide public access to Stamford Park from Stud Road.
But following his U-turn last week, Cr Cooper ended the speculation, saying the donation in question issued from another Stamford Park stakeholder, Caribbean Gardens. As a result of his removal from the latest debate, the mayor’s place on the steering committee was taken by an extra councillor.
The committee will now be comprised of councillors Gill, Karin Orpen, Tony Kamitsis and Mick Van de Vreede.
As mayor, Cr Cooper can sit ex-officio on all committees, although he will be barred from sitting in on decisions while his conflict of interest persists.