Melton councillor Ashleigh Vandenberg has been referred to the local government minister and Local Government Inspectorate over a series of social media posts that have been labelled “false” by the city’s mayor.
In a statement released on Thursday, September 18, Melton mayor Steve Abboushi said he was “deeply troubled by the misinformation that has been shared recently by Cr Ashleigh Vandenberg”.
“Her allegations that councillors are facing criminal charges are entirely false and intended to discredit councillors and mislead the community,” Cr Abboushi said.
“Cr Vandenberg has made various unsubstantiated accusations of bullying, harassment and vilification. While council takes such accusations seriously, Cr Vandenberg has failed to provide any information or evidence to support them, despite repeated requests.
“Council has therefore been unable to act on any of her claims.“
He said he referred the posts to Local Government Minister Nick Staikos and the Local Government Inspectorate for “immediate action”.
In a Facebook post on September 17, Cr Vandenberg stated councillors Lara Carli, Steve Abboushi, Phil Zada, Brandi Morris, Julie Shannon, Bob Turner, and Sophie Ramsey are “set to face the courts”.
In a series of other posts over the past week, Cr Vandenberg made allegations of bullying and harassment against other councillors, and various allegations against the Victorian Labor Party.
On September 15, she stated in a Facebook post that she had written to the Department of Government Services secretary calling for council to be put into administration.
When contacted by Star Weekly, Cr Vandenberg declined to comment in response to the statement published by Cr Abboushi, but in a Facebook post labelled it as “false”.
Cr Abboushi in his statement said that he was also aware that Cr Vandenberg’s partner, Simon Vallone, had filed a Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) application against the council and a number of state government bodies.
Documents seen by Star Weekly show the respondents are Victoria Police, the Local Government Inspectorate and the City of Melton.
Mr Vallone said Melton council was engaged by the Victorian Equal Opportunities and Human Rights Commission but declined to provide any further comment to Star Weekly.
Mr Staikos was contacted for comment.
