Residents 3000 “not imploding” despite claim of a “political takeover”

City of Melbourne councillor Rafael Camillo is at the centre of a bitter dispute engulfing residents’ group Residents 3000, with a committee member accusing him of politicising the organisation and using it to advance his personal agenda.

In a fiery September 11 email to Residents 3000 members and subscribers, long-time secretary Merle Willis declared the group had been “subjected to a political takeover” by Cr Camillo, vice-president Sue Saunders, and their supporters. She said the organisation had become “unacceptably hostile” in recent months and was no longer operating in the best interests of the postcode 3000 community.

Residents 3000 is a resident representative community group for postcode 3000. However, it has become too dominated, controlled, and directed for the personal and political purposes of Cr Rafael Camillo and his supporters on the committee, Ms Willis wrote.

She called for Cr Camillo to resign as president, arguing his leadership of the group conflicted with his position on council. She also urged Ms Saunders to “retire gracefully” as vice-president and allow the association to “refresh its direction”.

On September 15, Ms Saunders responded with her own email to members titled “Residents 3000 not imploding”, accusing Ms Willis of “wrongfully” seizing control of the group’s social media accounts by changing passwords so only she could post.

“She, in breach of her then duties under the Act and Model Rules, refused and has since waged a one-woman war of attrition against the president Rafael Camillo, Sue Saunders and members of the committee,” Ms Saunders said.

“These views are Merle’s alone and do not reflect the views or sentiment of Residents 3000 committee.”

But Ms Willis claims that several committee members want to resign, but that “they’re too afraid to speak up because they could become the next target”.

“Susan Saunders is writing as if the committee members are united but that is not correct,” Ms Willis said.

“Some committee members are talking of resigning, and others are not intending to re-nominate for re-election. This is just more of the same cycle of chasing out good people from the committee so there are never any viable contenders to replace Rafael or Susan.”

CBD News understands that a former committee member resigned in April alleging that she was bullied by Cr Camillo, who has vigorously denied the claims.

However, several committee sources told CBD News the group was united in opposing Ms Willis’s sole control of its communications, with a resolution passed in July requiring shared access across multiple committee members.

Despite this, the accounts have not been returned, but Ms Willis maintains that it was always intended that this be actioned “once things settled down and the committee was functioning properly”.

However the conflict has reignited long-standing questions about Cr Camillo’s dual roles.

One committee member, who asked not to be named, said Residents 3000 had a cultural problem that pre-dated the current dispute, with perceptions that agendas and invitations were tightly controlled, and that dissenting views, particularly on issues relating to city safety, health and homelessness, struggled to get airtime.

“No-one doubts there’s no personal financial gain here, but the line between ‘Raf the councillor’ and ‘Raf the Residents 3000 president’ is often blurred – and that’s a real problem of optics and trust. Members deserve clarity about which hat is being worn in any given forum,” the committee member told CBD News.

Another committee member, who also requested anonymity, said the group had faced wider policy tensions for years, which had escalated over the debate regarding the state government’s now scrapped plans for a supervised injecting facility in the CBD.

Another committee member told CBD News they agreed Cr Camillo was conflicted as president of the group and that Residents 3000 was part of his identity. However, they added that they believed his “intentions were good”.

Cr Camillo, who leads the council’s safety and cleaning portfolio, rejected the allegations about a conflict of interest and said he would not step down.

“I have carefully considered this role alongside my duties as a City of Melbourne councillor,” he said. “As the president, I do not have a material conflict of interest as I do not receive a salary from the organisation. My decisions as president reflect my personal views, not the priorities of council.”

Lord Mayor Nick Reece and City of Melbourne CEO Alison Leighton were contacted for comment, but they didn’t respond.

But the City of Melbourne said it was the responsibility of councillors to identify and disclose conflicts of interest under the Local Government Act 2020 and its Governance Rules.

The council provides Residents 3000, along with several other not-for-profit residents’ group across the municipality, with funding through its operational support grants program. Ms Willis argues this funding is compromised so long as the group is “influenced, controlled, or directed by just one of the 11 councillors”.

“What are new or existing residents to the city supposed to think when they are sent to the residents’ group for the city, but they find it being run by one of the 11 councillors, but they voted for other councillors and not him?” Ms Willis said.

Ms Saunders has claimed that Ms Willis was removed as secretary in August after missing three consecutive meetings without leave, though some committee members told CBD News they were not aware of the change.

Ms Willis has alleged that Ms Saunders ran a series of “quickly called ultra vires committee meetings which weren’t properly notified, conducted, nor minuted in line with the rules of the association”.

“There is no clear evidence that I have been legally removed as the secretary,” Ms Willis said.

“Other committee members were not available to attend, and there was mostly no provision for online attendance. Those meetings supposedly contain resolutions to remove me as secretary and supposedly appoint Susan Saunders as the acting secretary.”

The feud is also understood to have been fuelled by policy disagreements, particularly over the group’s approach to city safety, homelessness and health services.

Ms Willis accused Cr Camillo of using Residents 3000 to attack local providers, pointing to his criticism of staffing levels at Cohealth and The Salvation Army during a recent EastEnders meeting.

“It seems to us that he is obsessed with using Residents 3000 as a vehicle to pursue his own personal and political agendas,” she said.

Ms Saunders said that she and Cr Camillo, “who have the support of the committee, are seeking legal advice in respect of her [Ms Willis’s] false and defamatory allegations.”

Residents 3000 will hold its annual general meeting on October 2 at 6pm for a 6.30pm start at the Kelvin Club, where members will decide whether to back the current leadership or push for change. •