Call for Dubbo council ombudsman
Posted
Updated
A Dubbo councillor is calling for the city council to appoint an internal ombudsman.
A similar position was established at the Sutherland Shire Council in Sydney almost a decade ago.
Dubbo city councillor Ben Shields says the ombudsman would investigate complaints against staff and councillors.
He says the position is desperately needed.
"When you receive complaints about council, councillors are often unqualified to deal with the complaint - they haven't got any technical experience," he said.
"If we had an internal council ombudsman they'll quickly be able to get to the bottom of what is a real complaint and what isn't such a real complaint."
But Mayor Greg Matthews says an internal ombudsman would cost too much and is unnecessary.
"I think it's not well thought out. It's a second layer of bureaucracy and if the councillor was serious he would have put it to the council and not to the press," he said.
