Home Affairs Minister Michael Fahy has expressed surprise that the Corporation of Hamilton is refusing to endorse a Government-drafted Code of Conduct for the municipality.

But the Minister implied that he will not take any action against the municipality if it continued to disregard the code.

The series of regulations — a Code of Conduct, Financial Instructions, guidelines on meetings, and a Municipality Asset Management Plan — were compiled by Government following concerns of mismanagement at City Hall, and need to be implemented to bring the municipality in line with good governance laws set out in the Municipalities Amendment Act 2013.

Government took control of the corporation’s finances last December after an Ombudsman’s report exposed widespread maladministration, including questionable expenditures, at the municipality. City Hall was only given back financial control in March after it agreed to comply with the Financial Instructions. But the Code of Conduct and Board meeting guidelines — presented to the council more than two months ago — have yet to be ratified by elected officials, putting the Corporation on another potential collision course with Government.

On Wednesday Alderman Carlton Simmons said he would not sign the document, and that other members of the nine-man elected Board were also refusing to comply with the Government-imposed guidelines.

And Hamilton Mayor Graeme Outerbridge has now confirmed that no other council members had signed the code — even though the deadline for its implementation passed two months ago — and that there are no plans by elected officials to ratify it.

He added that councillors had also failed to approve new guidelines on council meetings, but will discuss them at a meeting scheduled for September 3 — two days after they are due to come into effect. The Mayor stated that his Team Hamilton administration had drawn up its own Code of Conduct after being elected in May, 2012, and that the vast majority of the regulations were contained in the version compiled by Government.

The Mayor refused to reveal which rules within Government’s code councillors were objected to, saying: “There are a number of pieces in it that we need to have further discussion on. We have signed a Code of Conduct, it’s just not the amended one. We wanted to make sure that the code reflected the council’s will.”

When asked if that decision would lead to a clash with Government, Mr Outerbridge replied: “We will cross that bridge when we come to it.”

In April Senator Fahy warned the Corporation that the Board could be disbanded and replaced by a team of administrators if it continued to challenge Government’s authority through the courts. But after a subsequent “fruitful and constructive” meeting with City Hall, he said he was hopeful that matters of contention can be addressed in a conciliatory manner”.

And yesterday he maintained that Government’s relationship with the corporation was “generally not in bad shape”, and that he was not aware of any major stumbling blocks in getting the regulations implemented.

He added that he was willing to hold further meetings with the municipality so that the regulations can be introduced smoothly.

“I was surprised by Alderman Simmons comments because the request for a Code of Conduct came from the Corporation,” Sen Fahy said.

He agreed with the Mayor that much of the Corporation’s initial draft was retained in Government’s final version, adding: “We only had to make a few minor tweaks, so for the Alderman to say that he doesn’t agree with the final version, well, for the most part it was drafted by themselves.”

In his condemnation of the guidelines earlier this week, Alderman Simmons said that Sen Fahy had been disrespectful to the Corporation by failing to consult with it over the code. “If the Minister wants to impose some new guidelines, he should consult with the elected members — he hasn’t done that, not by any stretch,” he said.

But yesterday Sen Fahy said he had invited councillors to two meetings to discuss the regulations and express any concerns, and that Alderman Simmons failed to attend either session. He also stressed that Government did not get involved in the day-to-day operations of the municipality.

He said he also accepted that the Corporation had not had sufficient time over the summer to discuss the meeting guidelines.

“My position is that, if the Corporation is refusing to sign these regulations, let’s find out what the problem is, sit down and have continued dialogue,” he said.