‘Wrecking ball’ mayor upset staff, brought council into disrepute before ban, probe finds

3 hours ago 2

Suspended former Whittlesea mayor Aidan McLindon showed complete disregard for the role and made bizarre accusations against the council and disparaging public remarks about minorities that made some council staff feel unsafe, an inquiry has found.

An 80-page report by the Commission of Inquiry into Whittlesea Council was tabled in state parliament on Tuesday, which detailed serious concerns about McLindon’s “extremely poor conduct” in his short time as mayor, as well as mishandling of the situation by the council’s chief executive, Craig Lloyd.

Suspended Whittlesea mayor Aidan McLindon will return to council duties on Friday.

The report found that McLindon, who was suspended in April, failed to represent the council, made unsubstantiated allegations about corruption and showed disregard for LGBTQ and First Nations communities after choosing to run as a candidate during this year’s Werribee byelection.

“He made wildly provocative public statements that reflected on sections of the community in disparaging ways, as well as making unsubstantiated and sometimes bizarre accusations against the council, the council administration and the government,” the report states.

“His conduct was detrimental to the council and potentially distracting from the important tasks of the council to serve its community.”

Despite the findings, McLindon is due to return as a councillor on Friday. The commission did not suggest that he should be further suspended, saying it did not receive enough evidence of him posing a health or safety risk.

A defiant McLindon made a submission to the commission rejecting claims of poor behaviour, stating he was always respectful of others and that he was disappointed that he was not afforded “procedural fairness”.

The inquiry report is the latest trouble-plagued chapter among many for Whittlesea Council. The previous council was sacked in 2020 over issues with factionalism and poor conduct. The municipality did not have any elected councillors between 2020 and 2024.

A municipal monitor has once again been appointed to Whittlesea Council – the third since 2019.

The commission’s report outlines how the relationship between McLindon and Lloyd broke down soon after the 2024 local government elections and finds the chief executive handled the tumult poorly.

“While we recognise that the CEO was probably unprepared for the council’s choice of Mayor, he appears to have struggled with how to deal with the situation in which he found himself,” the report said.

“We have a particular concern that early escalation of problems to external agencies may have exacerbated, rather than calmed, internal tensions.”

The report also casts some blame towards the newly elected councillors, saying they did not exercise “due diligence” in electing McLindon as mayor.

Relationships deteriorated when McLindon ran in the byelection, with councillors expressing concern to him about the optics of nominating and fulfilling the role of mayor.

While McLindon was on personal leave, the councillors applied for an arbitration due to McLindon’s erratic behaviour, which councillors said was “not improving and escalating”.

One councillor said McLindon was a “wrecking ball”.

The report found McLindon brought the council into disrepute and comments he made in the media and online generated misinformation and showed a disregard for how they affected people.

Nine council staff lodged a “psychological incident or distress report” following published remarks by McLindon.

“Some comments are particularly concerning, such as the use of the term ‘sexploitation’ in connection with matters relevant to the LGBTQIA+ community or suggestions that members of the First Peoples community have acted against their community for financial gain by opposing Australia Day,” the report said.

McLindon said the report contained “a lot of assertions from various people who would have preferred that I was never elected as mayor”.

“There has been a lot of innuendo, but clearly the report shows and demonstrates that I was never a serious threat to any staff or councillors,” he said. “I look forward to returning on Friday and continuing my role as the local councillor. I always engage in respectful debate, and I’ll continue to champion the issues that I was overwhelmingly supported for in the community.”

McLindon is separately facing an internal arbitration process and an investigation into several complaints to the Local Government Inspectorate.

The report’s 17 recommendations include that McLindon undertake training on the proper role of a councillor and that his conduct should be carefully watched by the municipal monitor.

It also calls for an urgent amendment to the Local Government Act 2020 to give councils the power to remove a mayor if they are significantly failing in their role and recommends newly elected councillors have more time to elect their first mayor.

Local Government Minister Nick Staikos said he expected the City of Whittlesea to “use this opportunity to rectify the issues raised in the report, to reset and build a good governance framework that better serves ratepayers”.

Whittlesea City Council said it was considering all elements of the report, and welcomed any process to strengthen governance and support the safety and wellbeing of staff.

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