Pink Lady called council staffers ‘bunch of incompetent idiots’, texts aired show
Pink Lady Angela Jones-Blayney called two Parramatta council staff members “a bunch of incompetent idiots”, the commission heard.
Text messages between Jones-Blayney and Connolly from October 2023 have just been aired at the inquiry. The pair discussed Shannon Kliendienst – who had, months earlier, applied to a position that ultimately went to Jones-Blayney – and Sheree Gover, a former group manager at the council responsible for events and festivals. Neither are accused of any wrongdoing.
“What makes it all worse is that Shannon and Sheree have done absolutely nothing about [the council’s festivals] and to make things worse gave her a positive performance review,” Blayney wrote, in relation to a successful festival event the council held.
“They are a bunch of incompetent idiots!”
We’re now on a morning tea break.
Investigation into ‘coerced’ complaints expanded, ICAC hears
We’re now hearing more about the internal investigation into the alleged “coercion” of council staff to report incidents via Stopline.
Connolly was aware both she and Pink Lady Jones-Blayney were named in a staff complaint. Davidson has suggested to Connolly that the internal investigation had “amounted to detrimental action against the complainants” and, given the knowledge she had about Blayney-Jones’ desire to see staffer Sheree Gover gone, Connolly was “incapable of exercising [her] functions impartially”.
Connolly rejects the claim: “I don’t accept that. Anyone who understands my history in local government knows that I don’t protect working relationships.”
“If there is a complaint that is put to me and an investigation recommended to me … I will proceed along those lines,” she says.
This is how the internal investigation ended up – Davidson says this shows “the investigation broadening in its scope” from an initial search about whether staff were being coerced:
We’re back
After a lunch break we’re back.
Counsel Assisting Joanna Davidson SC is back asking Connolly about the Stopline complaints we were discussing before lunch.
Davidson puts it to Connolly that she had approved an internal investigation into alleged “coercion” of staff to report bullying via Stopline, despite knowing “that at least one of the Stopline complaints related to you”.
Here’s the latest
We’re now on a lunch break.
Here’s what happened this morning:
- Connolly was asked more about the anonymous email she sent to councillors and reporters. Davidson put it to her that by sending the email, she was sharing confidential information with third parties.
- The inquiry saw emails between two Parramatta staff that Connolly had requested “all our communication … be verbal, nothing by email with the exception of sending then [sic] the details of the complaint”.
- Connolly was probed about the circumstances that led to a former Ryde Council colleague, and fellow Pink Lady Michelle Carter, being directly appointed to an events position on the council. Angela Jones-Blayney, another Pink Lady, called two council staff “a bunch of incompetent idiots”, the commission heard.
In the final moments of the hearing Connolly is asked about emails found during an internal investigation that referre to Connolly, Jones-Blayney and fellow Pink Lady Roxanne Thornton as “the witches of Eastwick”, a reference to the classic film.
“I thought it was funny,” Connolly says. “I’ve been called a lot worse over my 30 years in government other than a witch.”
Back in an hour.
Connolly accused of investigating ‘coercion’ of complaints over actual complaints
We’re in the weeds here about a series of bullying complaints about Jones-Blayney that were made to the council’s whistleblowing service, Stopline.
There’s an email shown of Connolly granting the council’s HR boss Brendan Clifton access to the email accounts of two staff members “for the purposes of obtaining evidence that staff have been/are being coerced into making complaints”.
Davidson puts it to Connolly that instead of authorising the council’s chief people and culture officer to investigate the bullying allegations, she authorised him to investigate whether staff were being “coerced” into making complaints.
“By this point, that is 3rd November [2023], you didn’t have anything to indicate to you that Mr Clifton or People and Culture were conducting any searches or investigations of any kind in relation to the substance of the Stopline [complaint], did you?”
Connolly says her understanding was there was dual process, where the substance of the bullying complaints is investigated as well as the “complaint” that staff were being “coerced” into making complaints.
But Hatzistergos is intervening to ask whether the coercion allegation was ever, in fact, an actual complaint.
LinkedIn ‘likes’ examined as part of council ‘camps’, ICAC hears
We’re back from a break.
Angela Jones-Blayney examined the “likes” of a LinkedIn post of a senior council staff member and said she wanted one staff member “gone”, the ICAC has heard.
Jones-Blayney messaged Thornton about a LinkedIn post of former HR boss Bernadette Cavanagh in October 2023: “Posted 6 days ago ….. Likes from [council staff] Shannon Sheree Arancha Nicole Robert Danny and wait for it … JA! No surprises there! One name missing Lenny he has picked a side …. The right side! The Gail bus.”
Jones-Blayney mentioned another staff member who was “now off my list as well!” and that “No Bryan [Hynes, former chief executive] lover is in my camp”.
She later added that she wanted former employee Sheree Gover gone: “I also got a tip off today that Sheree is actively trying to get shit on me to bring me down I want her gone!”
Connolly was shown these text messages. When asked by counsel assisting Joanna Davidson SC whether council staffers were grouped into “perceived camps, or sides”, Connolly said this was not her understanding.
“I know there was a perception from other staff that there were people who had taken sides but when you’re the CEO, nobody takes your side.”
Pink Lady called council staffers ‘bunch of incompetent idiots’, texts aired show
Pink Lady Angela Jones-Blayney called two Parramatta council staff members “a bunch of incompetent idiots”, the commission heard.
Text messages between Jones-Blayney and Connolly from October 2023 have just been aired at the inquiry. The pair discussed Shannon Kliendienst – who had, months earlier, applied to a position that ultimately went to Jones-Blayney – and Sheree Gover, a former group manager at the council responsible for events and festivals. Neither are accused of any wrongdoing.
“What makes it all worse is that Shannon and Sheree have done absolutely nothing about [the council’s festivals] and to make things worse gave her a positive performance review,” Blayney wrote, in relation to a successful festival event the council held.
“They are a bunch of incompetent idiots!”
We’re now on a morning tea break.
‘Do the deed and let him find out afterwards,’ Connolly texted about mayor
“The best way to handle [then-lord mayor Sameer Pandey] is to do the deed and let him find out afterwards,” Connolly texted Jones-Blayney in texts being aired at the ICAC.
“He seems to prefer it that way – his hands are clean.”
Connolly says the lord mayor was “intimately involved with Ms Jones-Blayney in organising the community festivals, particularly the Diwali event”.
Pandey was “a very hands-on lord mayor”, she says. “There was a tendency for their councillors to become involved in operational or staff matters, so the best way to handle inquiries from any council, including the lord mayor, is to take the necessary action and then advise afterwards. This particular lord mayor preferred it that way.”
Connolly asked about recruitment process
The inquiry is now hearing evidence about the recruitment process for the manager for an events and festivals role, which was about the same time Connolly began at the City of Parramatta in 2023.
She did not recall one of the Pink Ladies, Angela Jones-Blayney, raising to her that Michelle Carter – a former colleague of Jones-Blayney’s at the City of Ryde – was a candidate.
The ICAC was previously told that Carter played a significant role in writing the position description for a new role at the City of Parramatta, to which she was then directly appointed.
“My understanding was that she was mentoring the applicant for the role, so she was interested in the progress of the interview,” Connolly said. “It wasn’t something that was a high priority for me.”
But Connolly agreed that Jones-Blayney was making requests on behalf of Carter, also a fellow Pink Lady, as an applicant.
Connolly requested no emails about investigation be sent to her, ICAC hears
We’re now looking at text messages between council staffer Mark Deayton and HR boss Brendan “Lenny” Clifton.
Clifton messaged Deayton on October 19, 2024: “Gail has asked us to inform [the investigators] to expect everything re this matter to be GIPAd and all our communication with them should be verbal, nothing by email with the exception of sending then [sic] the details of the complaint.”
Asked whether she had instructed Clifton not to put anything in writing to prevent information being accessible under the GIPA Act, Connolly says she could not recall giving the instruction.
Davidson said the text messages appeared to show the exact opposite.
Clifton messaged Deayton a few days later about the same issue: “She [Connolly] is a bit funny like that. Even though it’s advice, she doesn’t like a record of it in case she doesn’t follow the advice and her out will be she acted based on what her understanding was.”
Connolly asked why she sent email to reporters
Connolly is being asked why she sent the anonymous email to Sydney Morning Herald reporter Anthony Segaert and Daily Telegraph reporter Joanne Vella.
Under questioning from Davidson, Connolly said she understood Segaert and Vella were both present at the council meeting of August 26, 2024, and heard the information that was included in the email.
“[It was] two years ago, I can’t quite remember whether Ms Vella was there,” she says after a long pause. “But that was my recollection at the time.
Davidon asks: “Where you indicate you understood that Mr Segaert and Ms Vella were present at the council meeting, did you also understand them to be present in the discussion beforehand, where you indicated Sam Tatsis was raising allegations?”
Connolly replies: “Yes.”
“I suggest to you that … it was important in your view to make the information public because the election campaign was proceeding at this time, and [then-chief of staff] Mr Mulder was a candidate, is that correct?”
“No.”
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: www.smh.com.au
