Wodonga councillor Graeme Simpfendorfer on minister's next step

He was speaking in response to the minister Melissa Horne writing to the council calling for the city to show governance improvements before she determined further action which could include dismissal.

Cr Simpfendorfer told Monday night's council meeting, during debate over a letter of replay from mayor Ron Mildren to Ms Horne, that he did not want the community's representatives axed.

"Where to from here, I guess we'll wait and see if this response gets up and what the response is from the minister," Cr Simpfendorfer said.

"Would it to be the dismissal of the council, I hope not, I hope that we can work through these issues.

"Will there be a commission of inquiry, I certainly wouldn't be against that to draw the issues out, because as we have collectively said and as some councillors in the room have (said) we have been dysfunctional sometimes.

"We have had resolutions that haven't passed, the CEO can't do anything without a resolution which means our community misses out."

A commission of inquiry into Moira was set up by Ms Horne in October 2022 and soon after it reported back in February the minister sacked the Cobram-based council, leaving it without elected representatives until 2028.

Cr Simpfendorfer has previously written two letters to Ms Horne outlining his concerns with governance at Wodonga.

He told The Border Mail after Monday's meeting that he was unlikely to write a fresh letter to Ms Horne but reiterated his support for a commission of inquiry.

"These issues need to be drawn out and the community needs to be aware," Cr Simpfendorfer said.

Asked what issues could be exposed by a commission, he said it would not be appropriate for him to say but stressed it would aid transparency.

He along with councillors Danny Lowe and Kev Poulton voted against a motion supporting the letter from the mayor and requesting a meeting with Ms Horne.

Cr Lowe criticised Cr Mildren's letter, querying whether it addressed Ms Horne's requests, while Cr Poulton did not contribute to debate on the motion.

Ms Horne referred to multiple councillors contacting her with concerns, but did not name them.

Cr Lowe and Cr Poulton did not return The Border Mail's calls on Tuesday.

Cr Simpfendorfer said he did not know if either of them had contacted Ms Horne.

Councillor Libby Hall noted councillors finding fault with Cr Mildren's letter had "every opportunity" to flag contributions.

"We had two workshops, I think they went over at least two to three hours, we have councillor-only time briefings every Monday, there's every opportunity to raise any of those actions that could be suggested," Cr Hall said.

Addressing some of Ms Horne's concerns, councillors on Monday unanimously approved a good governance framework and an altered councillor code of conduct.

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