CITY of Newcastle has refused to reveal if any of its staff received, or were involved in, a group email discussion of NSW council heads that was accessed by a mysterious Newcastle Herald letter writer using the name Jason Sivo.
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Chief executive officer Jeremy Bath also declined to answer the Herald's questions about the same email, which included NSW council bosses discussing a state government stimulus package at the height on the pandemic in April 2020.
Mr Bath began extended leave on Thursday, which will not see him return until the end of August when the council will be in caretaker mode in the lead-up to the NSW local government elections.
In a memo to councillors earlier this month, Mr Bath said "similar to last year's extended leave over winter, David Clarke will act in the role of CEO".
Mr Clarke is the council's executive director of corporate services.
It's understood Mr Bath's leave was approved in April and he takes leave around this time each year.
The leave announcement was made to councillors a week after the Herald contacted Mr Bath about the latest revelation in the Scott Neylon letter-writing saga, following the discovery of a series of emails sent to this masthead that were retrieved from an archive of deleted correspondence.
Among them was an email sent by a person using the name Jason Sivo, which included an attachment of a response from then Maitland council boss David Evans in the group discussion about the stimulus package.
A spokesman for Maitland council said Mr Evans was replying to an email that originated from Local Government NSW, which is a non-government body that represents all 128 councils across the state.
Mr Evans, who retired last year after 25 years in the job, said he could not recall exactly who was involved in the group discussion, but he believed it was council general managers.
The Herald has previously reported that Jason Sivo supplied the same mobile phone number in correspondence to the Herald as Mr Bath's best mate, misleading letter writer Scott Neylon.
Mr Sivo, who the Herald has been unable to locate, and Mr Neylon both write to the Herald about strikingly similar topics.
Mr Neylon has refused to answer the Herald's questions about if he knows Mr Sivo.
A letter from Mr Bath's lawyer earlier this month said the council boss did not write to the Herald under the name Jason Sivo and did not influence any correspondence from Mr Sivo.
Mr Bath has also denied allegations he wrote letters or comments under the name Scott Neylon, which have followed his career path from ClubsNSW, to Hunter Water and the council, supporting his employers and attacking his critics.
Mr Neylon said he penned those letters and Mr Bath did not influence him to do so.
A council investigation found insufficient evidence that Mr Bath was involved in the misleading letter-to-the-editor writing campaign under the name of his best friend of 25 years, which has been going on for more than a decade.
Do you know more? Donna.page@newcastleherald.com.au
