Wednesday 10 May 2017
MEDIA RELEASE
BREACH OF CODE OF CONDUCT CONFIRMED
A number of breaches of Stratford District Council’s code of conduct by Councillor Graham Kelly have been confirmed at
the Policy and Services Committee Meeting held on Tuesday 9 May 2017.
This followed an official complaint by Mayor Neil Volzke against Councillor Kelly due to the receipt of multiple
complaints from applicants during the recruitment process for the Chief Executive role earlier this year.
“As prescribed in Council’s Code of Conduct for elected members, this triggered the appointment of an independent person
who undertook a fact finding investigation and presented a report back to council.” says Chief Executive Sven Hanne.
The investigator’s report, as well as responses from Councillor Kelly and the Mayor were considered at last night’s
meeting. Elected members accepted the investigator’s findings that Councillor Kelly’s actions amounted to a material
breach of confidentiality in a number of cases and that they were inappropriate for a councillor.
“As a result of the breaches, elected members have requested a written apology from Councillor Kelly and have suspended
him from his role on the Executive Committee as well as the Policy and Services Committee for the remainder of the
current three year term. In the same meeting Councillor Kelly announced his standing down from the Stratford Community
Sports Society.” says Sven.
Due to the confidential nature of job applicants’ personal information, the details of this matter will remain
confidential. No further information will be provided on this matter.
Ends