A DUP councillor found to be in breach of the local government code of conduct said he may appeal the decision to suspend him from a planning committee for three months.
Alderman John Smyth was found to be in breach of the code over his attendance at a 2019 committee meeting during which MLA Trevor Clarke made representations on behalf of clients of his consultancy business.
Mr Smyth worked in the constituency office of Mr Clarke, who at the time ran Versatile Consultancy. The MLA claimed the consultancy did not breach Stormont rules but later wound down the business.
Details of the MLA’s consultancy work and presentations on behalf of clients were first revealed by The Irish News.
The councillor will serve his suspension from July following the ruling on Thursday by Ian Gordon, an Assistant Local Government Commissioner for Standards. He was found to be in breach of the code for failing to declare his connection to Mr Clarke and leaving the meeting.
Mr Gordon found that Alderman Smyth did not declare an interest in respect of three planning applications discussed at the meeting in March 2019. He also didn’t leave the meeting when they were being discussed.
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The breach related to "significant" non-pecuniary interests but did not involve "any direct or indirect pecuniary interests".
He said that the alderman was mistaken in his belief that registration of his employment situation satisfied the provisions of the code.
Mr Gordon found the three-month suspension from the planning committee "is both appropriate and proportionate to reflect the seriousness of the breaches and to maintain public confidence in local democracy".
Mr Smyth, who did not attend the hearing, said several of the original claims against him were not upheld, including the allegation that there was a personal financial element to the case.
The councillor, who still works for Mr Clarke, maintained on Thursday he “did not deliberately” involve himself in any misconduct.
“I am just waiting to speak with my legal representative to see what we are going to do,” the councillor said, adding that “there must be some sort of appeal process”.
Robert Moore, an Antrim businessman who first delivered information to the Northern Ireland Local Government for Standards in 2019, said the short suspension did not seem very long after nearly three years of investigation.
