A Tasmanian Council is set to discuss options to rein in difficult customers, after one man’s domination of the council’s question time process, and an incident at its December meeting that led to two people being assaulted.
The Advocate reports today on how James Redgrave has asked around 140 questions of Latrobe Council over a 12 month period – and he’s not even a ratepayer.
He is described as a licensed private and commercial enquiry agent acting on behalf of a number of ratepayers in Latrobe and five other Tasmania councils.
Mayor Peter Freshney stated at the December meeting that he believed Mr Redgrave’s use of public question time was politically motivated and sought to question the professional and personal integrity of the Council’s staff and elected members.
He ruled that no public questions without notice would be accepted from Mr Redgrave in future.
At that same meeting, another member of the public reportedly attempted to place the Mayor under citizen’s arrest – leading to a scuffle and an alleged assault of two people.
A report on the Council agenda for next week’s meeting from General Manager Gerald Monson estimates it has cost around $14,000 to deal with Mr Redgrave’s “unrelenting and time consuming actions”, and recommends a two question per person limit be imposed at future meetings.
