Demeo resigns

EMBATTLED City of Ballarat director of infrastructure and environment Terry Demeo has announced his resignation.

In a statement released to the media Mr Demeo said he handed his notice to acting CEO Neville Ivey today.

In the statement he said “that while he is very disappointed with the specifics of the Victorian Ombudsman report and its conclusions, he felt resigning was the appropriate course to allow matters arising from the report to be addressed as quickly as possible.”

Further he added that, “He has always tried to do the right thing for the City Of Ballarat and the community, and he felt resigning was the best course in this instance.”

Concluding Mr Demeo “thanked the councillors, the organisation and the broader community for the opportunity to serve the Ballarat community for the last six years and said he was leaving very proud of the achievements he has delivered for the city over that time.”

Mr Demeo came in for close scrutiny in last Thursday’s Ombudsman’s report, especially around the hiring of two council employees and engagement of a contractor to work at the City of Ballarat.

The Ombudsman found that Mr Demeo had should have declared a conflict of interest in all three cases but did not.

The report also addressed issues surround the splitting of work, in some cases to exclude a tender process, that Mr Demeo was not directly involved in but the Ombudsman said he was ultimately responsible for.

Also raised in the report were issues around the use of a council credit care that included the purchase of a $950 on a Flemish Light Chandelier that current director of business services Glenn Kallio said then mayor Samantha McIntosh may have told Mr Demeo to collect from Melbourne.

4.20pm UPDATE

The City of Ballarat has released a single line statement: “Terry Demeo, director of infrastructure and environment at the City of Ballarat, has today tendered his resignation.”