Bega Valley Shire councillor Tony Allen has been ordered to publicly apologise to Bermagui woman Muriel Campbell after he was found to have breached the local government code of conduct over a 2006 incident when he was mayor.
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Cr Allen has two months to make the apology at a public council meeting.
The investigation into the code of conduct breach found that Cr Allen "failed to exercise a reasonable degree of care and diligence in carrying out his functions as mayor".
The investigation stems from a matter which was the subject of a defamation action by Cr Allen against Franciscan nun, Sister Laurel Lloyd-Jones.
It found that Cr Allen's conduct in failing to appropriately organise a meeting with Mrs Campbell, including taking her wishes into consideration and providing her ample time to prepare for such a meeting, was improper.
By failing to properly organise and consider all parties to such a meeting Cr Allen had failed to treat Mrs Campbell and others with respect.
This was particularly the case as Cr Allen was a "person who held the highest position within the local community and one who was very familiar with the conduct of such meetings".
At Wednesday's council meeting, councillors moved into a lengthy closed session to consider the findings of the investigation into the code of conduct complaint.
At the resumption of the open council meeting, Cr Bill Taylor called on his fellow councillors to "take the personalities out of it" and vote in favour of the motion, noting the investigation and calling on Cr Allen to publicly apologise.
Cr Taylor said a [NSW District Court] judge in a defamation case launched by Cr Allen found he had acted in an "overpowering and bullying manner" which was a clear breach of the code of conduct.
Councillors voted in favour of the information provided to them in the closed session, and contained in the the independent reviewer's report, remaining confidential.
Outside the meeting, mayor Michael Britten declined to comment, saying that he was bound by the confidentiality clause.
The investigation was triggered after a number of Fairfax Media papers, including the Merimbula News Weekly and Bega District News, reported the findings of the long-running defamation case in April 2014.
It is understood the complainants called for an investigation into the alleged breach of the code of conduct after they read in the local papers that, according to Judge Gibson, Cr Allen conducted himself inappropriately as the mayor in that he bullied a woman [Mrs Campbell] and that he had intimidated her by acting in a bullying and overpowering manner over the phone.
The Bega Valley Shire Residents and Ratepayers Association revealed on Friday that it was one of the complainants.
Fairfax Regional Media understands there were multiple, independent complaints made to the council.
The defamation action - which yo-yoed between the District and Supreme Court - came to an end when Judge Gibson determined that two imputations made against Cr Allen were true.
Damages previous awarded to Cr Allen were subsequently reduced to a total of $6000.
Crs Britten, Taylor, Sharon Tapscott and Ann Mawhinney voted in favour of the motion.
Cr Liz Seckold voted against the motion, claiming the investigation had been "far from adequate", especially in terms of interviewing essential witnesses.
Crs Allen, Russell Fitzpatrick and Kristy McBain were absent for the vote and Cr Hughes abstained.
Cr Allen declined to comment when contacted on Friday.
Sr Lloyd-Jones, who penned the letter on behalf of the Campbells that led to the defamation action, said she was pleased Mrs Campbell would receive the apology she deserved.
"But I would be a lot happier if I had not spent the last six years in and out of court," Sr Lloyd-Jones said.
In April 2009, Bega Valley Shire Council mayor Tony Allen commenced defamation proceedings over the publication of a letter from Franciscan nun, Sister Laurel Lloyd-Jones, to the then Premier, Nathan Rees, the Sydney Morning Herald, ABC's Four Corners and members of the Committeee for Reconciliation and Justice.
Sr Lloyd-Jones' letter described the events surrounding an incident at the home of Muriel and Gary Campbell, indigenous Australians, from Bermagui who were invaded by a group of non-indigenous youths in the early hours of the morning in October 2006.
She intervened on behalf of Mrs and Mrs Campbell who were dissatisfied with the outcome of the concerns they had raised over ongoing racial tensions in the community.
Cr Allen launched defamation proceedings against Sr Lloyd-Jones in the NSW District Court over the contents of her letter, in which she said he had acted in an aggressive and bullying manner towards Mrs Campbell.
In May, 2011, Judge Andrew Colefax found Sr Lloyd-Jones had conveyed four false and defamatory imputations about Cr Allen and awarded him $50,000 in general damages plus $15,000 in aggravated damages.
The following March, Sr Lloyd-Jones launched an appeal in the Supreme Court of NSW.
Appeals over two of the four imputations were upheld, with the remaining two sent back to the District Court.
Those imputations were:
* The plaintiff, the mayor of Bega Valley Shire, conducted himself inappropriately as mayor in that he bullied a woman; and
* The plaintiff intimidated a woman by acting in a bullying and overpowering manner over the phone.
On April 17, 2014, Judge Gibson handed down her decision.
Judge Gibson determined Sr Lloyd-Jones succeeded in her defence of justification to both imputations – meaning that both imputations were true.
Judge Gibson re-assessed the damages; she awarded Cr Allen $6000 damages and rejected his claim for aggravated damages.
As a result of this matter being reported in local newspapers in April 2014, the complainants instigated an investigation into the breach of the local government code of conduct against Cr Allen.