Mr Eldridge said he was not allowed to meet with councillors to make his case and hinted at future legal action.

“Nothing I have done can be considered ‘serious misconduct’,” Mr Eldridge wrote. “A number of procedural rules and sections of the (council) code of conduct and Office of Local Government (OLG) guidelines have been ignored by the process.”

READ MORE: Alan Eldridge’s statement

The former general manager stood aside in February to allow a Sydney law firm to investigate claims he failed to declare pecuniary interests. When the investigation found other potential issues, the matter was referred to the OLG and the Independent Commission Against Corruption.

Three months later, council solicitor Adrian Barwick sat in on a three-and-a-half hour closed meeting that resulted in Mr Eldridge’s sacking. His contract was officially terminated in accordance with the recommendation of a confidential legal report to councillors, believed to have stemmed from the investigation, but the secrecy had drawn the ire of the community.

Some of the details were even kept secret from councillors. On Wednesday, several councillors told The Daily Advertiser that they were not told how much the investigation had cost when they unanimously voted to approve the expenditure.

READ MORE: Sacking costs revealed

Mayor Greg Conkey then revealed $20,395 had been spent on the investigation’s legal fees.

An additional $15,442 was spent on a private investigator.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the councillors said the $35,000 total did not come up during the meeting.

However, one councillor doubted the official figures and said the cost was likely to double before the matter was resolved.

Sydney legal firm Williamson Barwick is one of 10 used by council. 

Cr Conkey said they were “specialist workplace relations lawyers”