Cleaned out: Council office equipment ‘missing’ after election

Text from article: https://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/cleaned-out-council-office-equipment-missing-after-election/news-story/8f5fdbd36199c9d0cfe2cdcb3ae2da92

Cleaned out: Council office equipment ‘missing’ after election
Marquees, stages, ping pong tables – all nowhere to be seen. Brisbane councillors are blaming each other for a bizarre post-election clean-out, with even toilet paper removed from one office.

Labor and Greens councillors have accused their opponents of stripping their ward offices of everything from marquees, ping pong tables and portable stages — and even toilet paper.

But the majority Schrinner LNP administration denied responsibility for the post-election vanishing act and claimed its incoming Wynnum councillor turned up to a bare office after winning the bayside seat in the March elections.

Some councillors said the clean-out of hundreds of thousands of dollars in gear also extended to vital paper files, budget manuals and emails.

It was unclear who authorised the removal of the items. High-value items bought under the Lord Mayor’s Community Fund were required to be kept at the ward where they were purchased, regardless of any change in councillors.
The full extent of the office musical chairs, which saw some valuable items transferred to LNP wards such as Hamilton, has only recently become known as constituents asked to borrow sporting gear, generators and equipment for fetes and public events.

Labor’s newly-minted Calamvale councillor, Emily Kim, said filing cabinets and binders were empty when she turned up for her first day after defeating the LNP’s Angela Owen.

But it was only in recent weeks, after examination of council’s asset register list, that she realised many high-value items had been transferred by unknown people to LNP wards.
“It was really disappointing to learn that a number of items that belonged to the Calamvale Ward had been taken from the office and given to other wards, run by LNP Councillors,’’ she said.
“Residents across the Calamvale ward have been left without a number of resources, including an outdoor stage, generator, folding machine, table tennis equipment and other sporting items, because of the petty politics of LNP Councillors.

“I have written to the Acting CEO (Tim Wright) requesting Council review the mismanagement of these assets and requested better fairness and transparency in the future.

The Greens’ Seal Chong Wah, who won a nailbiter battle in Paddington ward against the LNP’s Clare Jenkinson, inherited a bare office.

“The Paddington ward asset register was virtually empty when Seal took over. It appears that the asset register was ‘cleared’ before the handover,’’ her office said in a statement.

“That is very hard to believe given the Ward was held by the LNP for 20 years.

“When asked … the Councillor Support team admitted that folding tables and expensive marquees were transferred to other ward offices.

“The office was pretty comprehensively cleaned out. There was no office stationery, no toilet paper and no printer paper.’’

The statement also said the only data Ms Chong Wah could access — purchases made in the past 12 months — revealed the Paddington ward office budget included $4986 for marquees, $267 for market umbrellas and $62 for folding tables.

“This budget and all ward assets stay with the ward office and whoever is councillor,’’ the statement added.

“The existing ward office budget is transferred to any new councillor elected in the same financial year.’’

Finance and City Governance Chair, Fiona Cunningham, denied the claims.

“Every single item from the Calamvale and Paddington ward offices belong to Brisbane City Council and have been itemised and accounted for,’’ she said.

“That’s in stark contrast to the Wynnum Manly ward office which was, as photos show, gutted after the Labor councillor’s (Sara Whitmee) defeat.

“Labor has refused to provide a list of property from the Wynnum Manly ward office that belonged to ratepayers, or explain what happened to them.

“It simply doesn’t add up that after 30 years of Labor in charge, the Wynnum Manly ward office was empty.
“Labor has serious questions to answer about whether property belonging to ratepayers was removed without Council approval, wrongfully disposed or stolen.

“I will be writing to Council’s acting CEO seeking an urgent investigation.’’

But Labor Opposition Leader Jared Cassidy said the photos revealed only a “standard, tidy’’ office.
Pigeon holes and shelves in most offices were relatively empty as most had moved to electronic correspondence.

“The LNP’s claims regarding the Wynnum Manly office are petty and don’t even compare to the significance of items missing from Calamvale, which has left that community without useful resources including a stage, generator and letter folding machine,’’ he said.

“The LNP have not been able to identify one single thing that was missing from the Wynnum Manly office.
“Since Councillor Kim raised this issue, the LNP have run from any responsibility and tried to deflect elsewhere. They have serious questions to answer.

“Are these items still within council’s ownership or have they been stolen?

“There still hasn’t been any confirmation that they actually made it to the other offices.”