Council
6 September, 2024
Bhalla's fate sealed after damaging chain of events
This week's decision for Horsham Rural City Council to "part ways" with CEO Sunil Bhalla follows unprecedented calls for heads to roll in the civic chamber.
Mr Bhalla's resignation was sealed at an unscheduled meeting of council on Monday.
His departure - effective today, September 6 - caps a disastrous few months for council.
Its annual community satisfaction survey - a municipal report card conducted by the Victorian Department of Government services - painted a second successive dismal picture of council's overall performance in the eyes of its residents and ratepayers.
Failure to submit its budget by the statutory June 30 deadline had already put council in the crosshairs of Spring Street bureaucrats, with Local Government Victoria executive director Mike Gooey telling Mr Bhalla on June 26 to seek "urgent legal advice" on the consequences.
The ripple effect caused an immediate rift within the council chamber, as a breakaway group of three councillors - Claudia Haenel, Ian Ross and David Bowe - launched a scathing attack on both Mr Bhalla and mayor Robyn Gulline, condemning their "leaders" for the budget fiasco.
Meanwhile, HRCC had been reported to the state's Chief Municipal Officer, and the Victorian Council Watch lobby group accused the mayor of "appalling" behaviour at the July 22 meeting at which the budget was eventually adopted.
News of the appointment of a second municipal monitor in two years to address ongoing governance concerns was greeted with dismay by state MP Emma Kealy.
She had already met with Local Government Minister Melissa Horne to demand the CEO and councillors be dismissed en masse, and for an administrator to be brought in to "clean up" council affairs.
"The community expects to be led by people they can trust and respect," Ms Kealy told The Horsham Times.
"We can't continue to do the same thing and expect a different result."
But none of that was good enough for the 70 council staff who two weeks ago voted unanimously for the CEO to be stood down.
The Australian Services Union hosted a meeting on August 22 at which council staff moved a motion of no confidence in the ability of Mr Bhalla to manage the council and protect staff health and wellbeing.
In a letter to the mayor and councillors, ASU organiser Billy King detailed allegations concerning Mr Bhalla's "leadership style".
The vitriol aimed at Mr Bhalla added to what was swiftly becoming a deafening chorus of criticism of council behaviours and operations that had long festered both within and outside the council offices.
After staff voted to oust their own boss, Cr Gulline said councillors - as the CEO's employers - would review their complaint and consider "the most appropriate course of action".
Mr Bhalla's departure was rubber-stamped at a surprise meeting with just two items on the agenda.
After councillors spent about 10 minutes discussing the City Oval funding application, Cr Gulline asked that the public gallery be vacated so that the remaining item could be considered in confidence: a report into the employment and remuneration of the CEO.
Earlier that day, monitor Steven Kingshott took up his post as council prepared to go into caretaker mode ahead of the local government elections.
Whether Mr Bhalla's resignation is sufficient to appease long-standing community unrest with council will be determined when voters go to the polls on October 26.
Additional reporting:
Rosalea Ryan