Yass Valley Mayor Rowena Abbey and Yass Valley Council’s General Manager David Rowe, have spoken out about their struggle to come to grips with what they’ve described as "council bullying" by certain members of the public.
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The pair said repetitive threats, whether physical, verbal or by email, have hindered their ability to do their jobs, but also negatively affected their personal life.
In an interview with the Tribune on Monday, Ms Abbey and Mr Rowe revealed that they were sick of wasting time responding to abuse and threats when they should be focussed on getting on with the job.
“I used to just ignore all the rumours and innuendos but when things get circulated to the community that are in some cases just completely wrong, it is necessary to respond," Mr Rowe said.
Ms Abbey said some of the incidents she'd heard about were disgusting.
“(I know of) harassment calls to staff, people ringing and hanging up in the middle of the night and I also heard about one person that had dog s**t put under their door handle.
“They are just faceless, gutless people doing mean things because they are cranky that they didn’t get their way. This is a form of bullying it’s as simple as that.”
Mr Rowe said what’s most disappointing is that it’s not only a slight on him, but people are also insulting his staff.
“It becomes unpleasant when you’re here trying to do your job and you're getting these continual unjustified attacks… and it’s really disappointing when I see things written and said about me that I know aren't true.
“But what I really get annoyed about is the spin-offs it has for staff … because the people here are very hard working and aren’t just a bunch of strangers, they are members of our community doing the best they can for the community.”
Mr Rowe said council must set about repairing its relationship with the community.
“I think there is a challenge and an opportunity for us to bring the community back on side.
"There’s been a lot of misinformation circulated through various avenues which has the potential to dent our credibility and we will work hard to rebuild any trust that may have been eroded in recent times and to provide the best services we possibly can within our budgetary constraints.”
The mayor claimed it was something that wasn't around during her previous stint as a councillor between 2005 and 2008, and she’d like things to get back on track.
Both Cr Abbey and Mr Rowe said they simply want to get on with the job of servicing the Yass Valley community.