An Adelaide council will hold a special meeting tonight to move a third motion of no confidence against its mayor to have him removed from power.
Kevin Knight is being investigated by Tea Tree Gully Council lawyers over a number of allegations of misconduct against a female council staffer.
The report alleges Mr Knight “deliberately hit the employee on her bottom with a rolled-up paper, document or the like”.
It also alleges the mayor “blamed management for the way the employee dresses” and “referred to her as ‘dressing like a $2 tramp'”.
The report also claims Mr Knight “pulled Councillor B’s skirt away from her waist and said, ‘plenty of room in there, can I jump in?’ and also suggested that she had been for ‘plenty of rides with boys’ and that she was ‘his type’ and he ‘would have gone her if he was her age'”.
In his statement on the allegations, Mr Knight said he intended to defend himself and believed an objective investigation will clear his name.
“I welcome the opportunity to have these matters properly investigated by either ICAC, the Ombudsman or the South Australian Civil and Administrative Tribunal,” he said.
When 9News attempted to speak with Mr Knight at his Tea Tree Gully home yesterday, video showed his wife Karen allegedly stop watering her garden to turn the hose on the reporter and cameraman.
Mr Knight’s position as mayor will now be considered by the Office of Public Integrity.
Tea Tree Gully’s Deputy Mayor Lucas Jones is also set to write to community and sporting groups asking them not to invite the mayor to any future events while the investigation is underway.
“As a Council, we set high expectations of acceptable behaviour from our elected members and staff which must, as a minimum, meet community expectations and comply with obligations to provide a safe working environment for staff and elected members,” Mr Jones told 9News.
This content first appear on 9news