An arbiter has found Baw Baw Shire Mayor Cr Danny Goss breached standards of conduct in relation to the treatment of others, and has ordered his suspension for 21 days.
The internal arbitration decision will be tabled at the Council’s meeting this week, after which the suspension will take effect.
The arbitration process followed an application last year by three former councillors – Annemarie McCabe, Keith Cook and Farhat Firdous – seeking findings of misconduct against Cr Goss.
It was alleged that Cr Goss’s behaviour at a councillor only meeting and two Council meetings between March and June 2024 was “intimidating”, “threatening” and “disrespectful.”
The Arbiter Dr Lily O’Neill found that Cr Goss breached the relevant standards on two occasions, but dismissed the allegation in relation to the June meeting.
Ms O’Neill noted that Cr Goss made a public apology in March this year, in which he said he lost his temper in an acrimonious Council debate, and that he regretted the comments he made at the time.
The Arbiter considered the apology to be sincere, and said that if not for that apology she would have applied the maximum allowed suspension of 28 days.