A Lithgow resident has accused management at Lithgow City Council of cultivating a culture of bullying, intimidating and micromanaging staff.
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Lorraine Roebuck, a local ratepayer, fronted Lithgow City Council’s chambers last Monday night with a series of allegations.
Ms Roebuck detailed a number of claims in a recent council staff survey that was discussed at a closed council meeting before local government elections last month.
Over the past three years, Ms Roebuck said the local business community had seen a drop in council staff morale, motivation.
“This is an issue that has been festering for some time,” she said.
“Allegations of bullying, unhappy staff, lack of support for staff, micromanaging and general poor management are issues that much of the town is talking about.”
Ms Roebuck fired off a list of recent resignations and terminations as examples of the issues facing council.
“My understanding is we are without an economic development officer, the group manager of finance appears to be on indefinite leave, the finance manager has resigned, a cultural development officer has left, an IT officer has left, and we have lost a number of other highly experienced staff in the last six months.”
Ms Roebuck requested action be taken on the issue by the new council as a matter of urgency.
“Attempts by Councillors Mcginnes, Ticehurst and Statham to discuss [this] with the previous councillors two months ago were rebuffed,” she said.
“I would like to hear from councillors as to how they intend to deal with these issues.”
Lithgow City Council General Manager Roger Bailey declined to comment on the allegations in detail in an official statement.
“If any such issues exist, they are internal matters and will be dealt with appropriately.”
An extraordinary council meeting has been called for this Wednesday to deal with the outcomes of the survey in question.
The meeting is closed to the public.