NEWCASTLE lord mayor Nuatali Nelmes is standing firm against mounting pressure for a more thorough investigation into the Scott Neylon-Jason Sivo letter-writing scandal, and has instead defended council general manager Jeremy Bath.
The council boss is also facing a chorus of calls from non-Labor councillors for a new, more robust, investigation into his links to the growing scandal.
Independent councillor John Church said a new inquiry should be conducted as soon as possible looking at fresh allegations linking Jason Sivo and Scott Neylon.
Cr Church said he had lost faith in Mr Bath's leadership and urged him to consider stepping down from his $513,000 a year job, which is funded by ratepayers.
He said the "only way" to restore public confidence was to properly investigate the ongoing allegations.
"A new independent inquiry should be conducted as soon as possible as new allegations have now emerged which link Jason Sivo and Scott Neylon, Mr Bath's best friend in Japan," he said.
"Why do they share an Australian mobile phone number?"
In a joint statement Liberal councillors Callum Pull and Jenny Barrie said they were not satisfied with the investigation carried out by council's external consultant Pinnacle Integrity last year, which found there was "insufficient evidence" to support allegations Mr Bath had contributed to the Neylon letters.
"Councillors are obligated to not speak publicly on code of conduct matters, but many residents rightly feel very uncomfortable about this saga," the Liberal councillors said.
"The ongoing story is creating reputational damage to council. To fix this, all parties need to be open and transparent about their role in this chain of events."
Mr Bath denies writing the Neylon letters or having anything to do with them, and Mr Neylon has said previously via email he, not Mr Bath, penned the letters under his name.
Mr Bath and Mr Neylon have repeatedly not responded to the Herald's questions about the Jason Sivo correspondence.
A letter from Mr Bath's lawyer last month said the council boss did not write to the Herald under the name Jason Sivo and did not influence any correspondence from Mr Sivo.
Cr Nelmes was the only Labor councillor to respond to the Herald's questions on the issue.
While she did not answer the questions, Cr Nelmes said in a statement that she was not interested in "campaigns that publicly denigrate our staff, be that our hard-working road maintenance crews, our waste collection team, or the CEO".
She declined to answer a question about if she would support an investigation into the latest twist in the letters saga related to a leaked email from former Maitland council boss David Evans.
The email, which was only sent to 128 NSW council general managers, was leaked to the Herald by a person using the name Jason Sivo, in an attempt to attack Maitland council.
"I don't support trial by media or political smear campaigns that involve any of our staff...," Cr Nelmes said.
"I'm proud to lead a council that is getting the job done."
Council's executive director of Corporate Services David Clarke, who is acting chief executive while Mr Bath is on leave, said the chief executive's performance was managed in accordance with the Office of Local Government's guidelines for general managers.
"At City of Newcastle's ordinary council meeting held on 27 February this year, the elected council received the CEO Performance Review report submitted by Stephen Blackadder of Local Government Services Group," he said.
"The elected council endorsed the recommended performance score of 84%, in acknowledgement of the CEO's performance during the past 12 months against KPIs set by the CEO Performance Review Panel."
Mr Clarke said the council proactively released Pinnacle Integrity's investigation report into the Neylon letters earlier this year, which concluded that the allegations against Mr Bath were not substantiated.
Greens councillors Charlotte McCabe and John Mackenzie said while Mr Bath had met the required expectations as chief executive in terms of managing staff and delivering budgets, policies and strategies, the letters saga was "deeply concerning".
They both believe the ongoing scandal has had a "detrimental impact on the standing of Newcastle council".
Cr McCabe said she believed the correspondence sent under the name Jason Sivo raised new concerns and therefore warranted a separate independent investigation.
She said code of conduct investigations were designed to be conducted in confidence to protect the identity of people giving evidence, and she hoped that if a second investigation occured, it would be carried out confidentiality.
"I'm deeply concerned that this issue has caused Newcastle constituents to lose faith in the institution of local democracy and our ability as elected councillors to maintain community expectations of transparency, accountability and good governance," she said.
Liberal councillor Katrina Wark urged the lord mayor to encourage Mr Bath to stand down until a more thorough investigation had been conducted.
She said the "whole saga" had brought the council into disrepute and made a mockery of the administration.
"Given that both Scott Neylon and Jason Sivo have the same mobile number at the same time would tell you that something is drastically wrong," she said.
"Council should be forced to do a proper investigation with all evidence being provided."
- Donna.page@newcastleherald.com.au
