When Jos Mitchell announced this week she would take leave from her position as Redlands mayor, it shone a light on long-term issues at the troubled bayside council.
Mitchell’s latest move came a week after she declared herself a victim of bullying and harassment – complaints that prompted one-term councillor Adelia Berridge to speak out about her experience at the council from 2020 to 2024, in a culture she said was characterised by disrespect.
In one of the most serious examples, personal medical information was leaked from within the council to an anonymous Facebook page that had called her “dopey”, a “political pest” and a waster of ratepayer money.
The leak came towards the end of her stint on council, as the page posted an email from then-mayor Karen Williams to the rest of the councillors noting that Berridge had requested leave from attending meetings because of personal health reasons.
“It was nothing short of abuse and breach of privacy,” Berridge said.
“When my personal identifiable information was shared, and then used without authorisation, it put me at risk of significant harm.”
But this was the culmination of a series of episodes Berridge remembers from her time at Redland City Council.
By the time the email was leaked, she had received 34 complaints to the state’s councillor conduct watchdog, the Office of the Independent Assessor – a body she believed was used as a political weapon against her.
Even before being elected, Berridge was a controversial Redlands figure. A known local activist, she was sent threatening legal letters from council officers in 2015 after posting on Facebook and sending emails about local developers’ relationship with Williams and the council.
Following an investigation, the Queensland Ombudsman scolded the council in a 40-page report, finding the letters were an unreasonable response to relatively minor criticisms, and that the assertion the council had been defamed was wrong.
When Berridge was elected three years later, chief executive Andrew Chesterman, who was in charge when the letters were sent, and general counsel Andrew Ross, who penned them, were still in their positions. Neither Chesterman or Ross responded to questions from this masthead.
Two years into the term, Williams crashed her council-owned Lexus into a tree after spending the afternoon drinking wine at council chambers after the 2022 budget was handed down.
Berridge called for her resignation publicly. Around the same time, Berridge was separately the subject of several OIA complaints.
The OIA can either dismiss complaints or refer them back to councils or the Crime and Corruption Commission to investigate.
She made her own complaint to the OIA and police after media coverage of an email, sent by another councillor, which referred to images of Berridge drinking at council events and accused her of opportunistic politics.
She later withdrew that complaint.
An OIA complaint was made about her, alleging she leaked that email to the media and had told its author, Paul Golle: “If you want this to go away, you need to get rid of the mayor.”
An investigation by the private company Verifact, commissioned by the council, found “on the balance of probabilities”, Berridge had not given the email to the media or made the threat. There is also no suggestion Golle leaked it.
Despite this, the council voted that Berridge had engaged in inappropriate conduct by leaking confidential information, resolving she should undergo training at her own expense and make an admission of guilt.
Golle would not comment on the OIA complaint, but did say he felt the term was marked by conflicts which made it a difficult place to work at times.
Insurance dispute
For some matters, Berridge accessed the council’s legal insurance to fight the complaints.
In 2022-23, those costs were added as expenses in the annual report for the first time, showing Berridge spent $28,599 – more than any other councillor.
“I’m not the first councillor to have been given insurance … not the first by long shot. This has never been in the annual report before,” Berridge said.
A council spokesperson said the Local Government Department advised the legal costs should be included in the annual report, but did not explain why they would be absent in previous years.
Later, a development application for a wedding venue in Berridge’s ward was called to council for a vote, despite council officers recommending it be rejected.
Berridge said the applicant had made an OIA complaint about her, alleging she was aggressive towards them on their property, which was cited as a conflict of interest, leading to her being voted out of the meeting.
Visibly upset, Berridge initially refused to leave.
“I said, ‘I’m not going. I’m just not going,’” she said of the meeting. “My stress levels at this point were off the radar.”
A month later, the council voted that Berridge’s behaviour was a conduct breach, ruling she should apologise, undergo training at her own expense and pay $1,500 in legal fees.
After that ruling, Berridge said a doctor confirmed her stress levels, and recommended she not attend meetings for six weeks.
Berridge requested leave for the last two meetings of the term, resulting in the email that was leaked to the Facebook page Redland City – Election News & Information.
“Notably this also means Cr Berridge will not be present to make a public apology for her conduct,” it read.
The administrator of the Redland City – Election News & Information Facebook page was contacted for comment and said they stood by their posts about Berridge.
After losing the 2024 election, Berridge fought against paying the legal bill in the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal, which threw out the matter.
The council then threatened to take the matter to the Magistrates Court. Facing another lengthy legal battle, Berridge paid up.
“I have always thought there was a target on my back from the day I was elected,” she said.
A council spokesperson said officers were required to try to recover the money under the Local Government Act.
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