Scott Groat came under fire for getting his own quote when he thought Griffith Council was going to have to pay too much. Photo: Griffith City Council.
Griffith councillor Scott Groat has come under fire from his colleagues for seeking a cheaper price for ratepayers on asbestos removal work on a fire damaged dwelling.
At a closed council session (meaning the public and media were excluded from viewing) in August, the council voted to acquire the services of an asbestos removalist to provide temporary fencing, asbestos testing and apply a protective coating if required, at an undisclosed location.
At a recent council meeting, Cr Groat sought to overturn this decision after obtaining a much cheaper quote for the work than the price mentioned in the closed council session.
“The amount of money it was going to cost ratepayers, $15,000, for a temporary solution was ridiculous,” Mr Groat told Region.
He said he obtained quotes which showed the job could be done for less than $3000.
“When a house burns down and neighbours complain, you have to put a fence up and cover it with an encapsulant, but I was surprised how much it would cost; it’s not a big job, it should cost much less.
“I wanted to protect ratepayers but also give a kick to contractors who inflate their quotes to council because they know they can get away with it.”
Mayor Doug Curran said that any cost discussed in closed council was only “indicative”, meaning it was a preliminary estimate only and not a formal quote.
He criticised Cr Groat’s actions, saying that getting his own quote was not appropriate for a councillor, as it’s an operational matter – a job of council staff. He also said that he was revealing information that should have been kept confidential.
“I hope that information [from closed council] didn’t get out to the community because that would be very poor form,” Mayor Curran said.
Cr Ellis also slammed Cr Groat’s actions.
“It shows conflicts of interest by going to local businesses to seek local quotes by a councillor, it disrespects staff because that is their job … it could also be close to code of conduct behaviour.”
Cr Testoni said that if Cr Groat got his own quote, he should’ve kept it to himself. He also said quotes should be left to council staff and not be obtained by councillors.
Cr Groat said he was surprised at “being attacked” for his actions, as he believed he was doing the right thing.
“How do you do your job as a councillor and not get caught up in operational matters?” he asked.
“Everyone knows that council gets quoted much higher prices than everyone else; $15,000 is unreasonable for ratepayers to have to pay for a band-aid treatment.”
He also questioned why the matter needed to be discussed in secret.
“It could have been discussed in open council, but with names and addresses not revealed. That would’ve been fine. The State Government is trying to stop councils from hiding in closed council.”
Griffith councillors voted against Cr Groat’s motion to overturn the previous decision by a vote of seven to two. Only Cr Mark Dal Bon sided with Cr Groat.
