Like many areas before it, the Valley voted almost blind when it came to most of the candidates found on the ballot paper.
Take newly-elected Clarence Valley shire councillor, Ian H. Dinham, for instance.
A relatively small number of voters knew that, before mandatory local government amalgamation, he had been a staff member at Maclean Shire Council and later headed the Clarence River County Council (CRCC), an entity which operated across all the then existing Clarence Valley local government areas.
Some voters also knew that while wearing the CRCC General Manager hat Ian Dinham was also elected a Maclean Shire councillor, which saw him in the ridiculous position as a councillor of voting to write to himself as a general manager and chronically late to almost every council meeting.
However, that is not all that Cr. Dinham now is.
Apparently when he stood for election to Clarence Valley Council (CVC) this month, he was and is a consultant engineer employed by Tweed Shire Council and has a current email address idinham@tweed.nsw.gov.au
But wait, there's more.
When Cr. Dinham was CRCC General Manager he got wind that the Valley-wide local government restructuring was coming, which would see the CRCC dissolved and a new agency created and, his alleged actions after that have been the subject of persistent and consistent rumour ever since.
Rumour has it that Cr. Dinham drew up his own redundancy agreement (with attached confidentiality agreement/clause) which allowed for him to receive a lump sum equal to two years full pay in the event his employment was terminated for any reason.
He supposedly then presented this to certain members of the CRCC board and had the agreement endorsed.
This rather unusual agreement would have seen Cr. Dinham pocket a sum coming closer to half a million dollars than the more modest standard 26-30 weeks pay other managers in similar situations usually received.
It is no wonder then that in the CRCC Annual Report 2003-04 as former general manager, he wrote: I wish to extend my very best wishes to the new Clarence Valley Council as we enter a new era of serving our community...
With all those coins allegedly jingling in his pocket Dinham then went on to become the Executive Manager of Clarence Valley Floodplain Service which effectively replaced the CRCC. Leaving one to wonder just how many days he actually spent redundant and unemployed.
He held this new position until around mid-2007.
It is my understanding that the local media recently approached Dinham concerning the circumstances of his redundancy pay-out and that he has flatly refused to comment. Safe in the knowledge that (whatever the actual circumstances of his redundancy package) former council and county council personnel records are sealed for the next 50 to 100 years.
Now another rumour is doing the rounds; that Ian Dinham wants to be Deputy-Mayor of Clarence Valley Council at the end of the month when the mayoral election is held.
Five questions spring to mind:
- if Cr. Dinham's redundancy package is not as described by rumour, why doesn't he deny the rumour when asked?
- how many employers does Cr. Dinham actually have?
- can Clarence Valley ratepayers afford this man?
- which council will now have his loyalty - Clarence Valley or Tweed?
- given the distance between the two local government areas, will he even bother to turn up to CVC monthly meetings?
No comments:
Post a Comment