by Emma Ballingall
Former mayor Annemarie McCabe was surprised but pleased at the 21-day suspension handed to Baw Baw Shire mayor Danny Goss.
However, alleging he failed to attend three hearing dates set for August and September last year, Ms McCabe expressed disappointment the matter wasn't dealt with before last year's council election.
She said "we'll never know" if it impacted the election result.
Ms McCabe, one of three former councillors who lodged an application which found Cr Goss had breached local government standards of conduct at two meetings last year, said the internal arbitrator's ruling would send a message.
"I was a bit surprised actually," Ms McCabe said. "I was expecting just an apology, but pleased at the same time."
"It sends a message to councillors across Victoria and Australia really that bad behaviour is just not acceptable," she said.
Speaking after what she labelled a "gloating" mayoral minute at Wednesday night's council meeting, Ms McCabe said her initial relationship with Cr Goss was "fantastic" but deteriorated after the first year of the four-year council term.
"He had some behaviours that I would think probably not appropriate...but they weren't significant enough to worry about," she said of year one.
Ms McCabe claimed Cr Goss' demeanour changed when he was no longer mayor and changed further when Joe Gauci resigned in April 2023 "because the numbers changed and the power balance shifted."
She alleged nasty comments were made towards former councillor Jazmin Tauru.
As part of the internal arbitration process, Ms Tauru gave evidence that Cr Goss told her to "shut up", "bottle it" and "get some experience" at a councillor-only meeting on March 13, 2024.
After the meeting, Ms Tauru said she asked the chief executive officer to be present at future meetings as she felt Cr Goss would be less aggressive.
Ms McCabe claimed a brief was written for the ceo straight after the meeting, one of "many" complaints made about Cr Goss' behaviour over a 24 to 36-month period.
However, a fiery council meeting on April 3 with debate on a gender ratio for place names, pushed her to take the matter a step further. "The catalyst was the meeting that was recorded...because it was on video," she said. "There was no denying it."
Whilst debate had been civil, it became heated in Cr Goss' right of reply with Ms Tauru asking "could you stop yelling?".
As Ms McCabe rang a bell to signal time, Cr Goss accused her of misquoting as well as conducting "a man-bashing exercise" at an International Women's Day event.
Ms McCabe asked him to conclude multiple times before proclaiming "sit down Cr Goss or I'll ask you to leave the chamber."
Dr O'Neill found Cr Goss' behaviour was abusive and threatening for this short period.
Ms McCabe alleged four or five community members also lodged complaints via various means on the actions of "a few councillors, not just Cr Goss" at the meeting.
The only way to progress the complaints was through the arbitrator, she added.
On the decision to highlight three councillor meetings during the hearing, Ms McCabe said "we could have sat down and gone through the last 12 months...it was just so draining mentally at the time".
In hindsight, Ms McCabe wished she'd "pushed harder to put complaints in sooner".
She said the ruling should have been handed down last year but Cr Goss couldn't attend hearings set for August 22, September 4 and September 11. "They (ratepayers) would have had an opportunity to have an understanding of what had taken place in the previous council term," Ms McCabe said.
The Gazette asked Cr Goss why he could not attend the meetings. He said he was prohibited from commenting on the arbitration process.
Following a directions hearing in February, Cr Goss made a public apology which Dr O'Neill viewed as "sincere" and his suspension was reduced from 28 to 21 days.
Dr O'Neill reported Ms McCabe found it inadequate and "did not accept that this apology should put an end to the matter".
On Cr Goss' complaints about her behaviour at the International Women's Day event, Ms McCabe said she gave the arbiter a copy of her speech.
She felt those reporting back to Cr Goss about the event were talking about the overall event, noting the last speaker upset some people.
"I don't think what I said was a big contributor to this man-bashing thing," she said.
Ms McCabe claimed her speech was aimed at getting women thinking about standing for council, noting none of the male councillors attended and she had given similar speeches at two previous events.
At her final meeting before the election, Ms McCabe used her mayoral minute to make claims of bullying, appalling behaviour and a "boys' club" mentality in Baw Baw Shire.
"When I became a councillor in 2020, I felt there was certainly an element of a boys' club," she said. "In my opinion, women were not respected and it was unprofessional and, at times, a hostile environment."
"I have seen first hand and been subjected to appalling behaviour that would never be tolerated in a workplace," she said.
Now out of the council chamber for six months, Ms McCabe described her four years on council as "fantastic" and "so rewarding".
She said highlights were meeting residents, personal growth, advocating on local issues and meeting politicians.
"The only element that leaves a bad taste in my mouth is the bad behaviour from not only Goss," she said. "I can't change people's behaviours. What I can do is be myself a better person."