CCTV footage showing Hobart City Council Deputy Lord Mayor, Zelinda Sherlock, removing snacks and alcohol from the city’s Town Hall on multiple occasions outside of Council meeting times has been released under Right To Information (RTI) laws.
The RTI release of the footage and internal emails last week – the result of a request by Councillor, Louise Elliot, five months ago – show Cr Sherlock and another person, whose identify has been redacted, visiting the Town Hall members lounge on Sunday 7 and Wednesday 10 January 2024. Council was not sitting at the time of any of Cr Sherlock’s visits.
On the morning of 7 January 2024, Cr Sherlock and another person made two brief visits to the lounge. At 10.15pm on 10 January, Cr Sherlock and another person again entered the members lounge, leaving a minute later. The pair then again entered the lounge at 10.21pm (pictured, below) and left shortly after.
The Council’s annual budget for elected members’ refreshments at the Town Hall venue is $4,000. Internal emails show that unusual stock levels for the lounge were being tracked for months before the CCTV review was undertaken.
In the same month as Cr Sherlock’s after-hours visits to the lounge, a staff member had documented that within 48 hours of the lounge being restocked, items including beer, wine, soft drinks, chocolate and nuts had disappeared despite no meetings taking place.
After reviewing the CCTV, the staff member escalated the matter, writing that “the actions of the identified Councillor in this instance are questionable and wanted to ensure senior management are aware of what I have observed”.
In a response to the email, a colleague stated there was “a general level of concern in the knowledge of these recorded events and as such a sense to escalate this up to your attention”.
In another internal email, released under the RTI, a Council staff member says the CCTV footage has been “saved in the share file system”.
“Although I have reported this matter to (staff member) I do believe this matter should also be escalated to my direct line manager for information,” the staffer wrote.
“I do believe the actions of the identified Councillor in this instance are questionable and wanted to ensure senior management are aware of what I have observed.”
The documents released by RTI also include a Teams message between Council staff asking that the matter be kept confidential.
Further, in a memo to incoming CEO, Michael Stretton on 5 February, 2024, the director of City Futures provided notes on “significant issues” that he “should be immediately aware of”.
Under the heading ‘Councillor Sherlock’, he says he was made aware that she had been “taking quantities of refreshments and snacks from the alderman’s lounge and consume (sic) them off site” and he had met with her to “question her on this practice”.
He said: “Cr Sherlock advised that she had been undertaking this practice for a number of years”, and added that she believed it was a part of the ‘fringe benefits’ applied to the role of councillor.
Cr Sherlock said she had taken the refreshments for her home office and that she’d later been informed that they were only to be consumed on site at Town Hall.
“A couple of years ago staff clarified that our Town Hall work snacks could not be consumed elsewhere,” she said.
“It was not the intent that refreshments be consumed in a home-office, so I apologised for my misunderstanding of the policy and that was that.
“I accepted this advice, staff amended our policy to clarify this so other elected members do not make the same mistake in future.”
A senior Council staffer noted the organisation’s policy at the time did not clearly state items had to be consumed on site and concluded no further action was warranted.
There is no suggestion of any criminal wrongdoing by Cr Sherlock and the Integrity Commission has also dismissed a complaint by the Deputy Lord Mayor in relation to her removal of the refreshments.
Cr Sherlock made a complaint to the Commission and released a letter from Commission CEO, Ellen McKenzie on social media last month.
“I took myself to the Integrity Commission over a wannabe-snack-scandal,” she wrote.
“When you have colleagues who seem determined to indulge in gutter politics rather than intellectual engagement – where defamatory commentary, innuendo and disinformation constitute the sum total of their contribution, I have always found that the truth has a remarkable habit of arriving late, but with all the receipts.
“I have no expectation of an apology from my colleagues. I expect some to continue to be merchants of mudslinging and mendacity.
“I however, will continue to do what I have done for the past eight years – show up, represent and enjoy doing the best I can for the City of Hobart.”
She said she shared the complaint because the confidentiality provisions “have not been applied to my complaint”.
In the letter dated 10 June, Ms McKenzie said the Commission had “carefully considered” whether the alleged conduct was defined as misconduct.
“This is important, as we can only act in relation to a complaint that alleges misconduct,” she wrote.
“We understand that the alleged conduct outlined in allegation 1 was previously dealt with by council and that it was determined that there was no misconduct.
“Further, there is no evidence of misconduct as alleged in allegation 2 on the basis of the available information.
“In the circumstances, I decided that it would be an unjustifiable use of resources to investigate the complaint. I have decided to dismiss your complaint.”
