Former Wagga councillor Paul Funnell says he has been pursued for political reasons

Mr Funnell's accusations come just days after the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT) disqualified him from holding public office for two years for intimidation of councillors and council staff.

In a wide-ranging press conference on Tuesday morning, Mr Funnell said the Office of Local Government and the council had "conducted malfeasance" by engaging in what he described as a "waste of ratepayer money".

"I was asked by media at the outset would I participate, I said initially yes ... however, once we started to get into it and I realised the Office of Local Government had spent hundreds of thousands of dollars of ratepayers' money to pursue me in a malicious prosecution," he said.

"That was the reasoning behind not contesting.

"They say the facts were proven ... but that's because the matter was not contested."

In response to Mr Funnell's claims about wasting ratepayer money, the council's general manager Peter Thompson said no money has been spent on pursuing political grievances against him.

"Council publicly reports its expenditure each year on all code of conduct matters," he said.

"In the last three years the total expenditure on all matters has been $60,000 in the 2020 reporting period, $68,000 in 2021, and $5000 in 2022.

"The reporting period is September to August each year and includes staff time and external costs."

Mr Funnell was referred to NCAT by the Office of Local Government at the request of the Department of Planning, Industry and Environment last year.

In February, the tribunal determined it would conduct proceedings into two grounds of complaint against Mr Funnell.

Both grounds alleged the former councillor, who resigned in December 2021, sought to intimidate and impede the council and its staff from reaching a decision on a misconduct complaint made against him.

At a council meeting on September 14, 2020, the consideration of a code of conduct complaint made against then-councillor Funnell was deferred to the following meeting.

NCAT found after the meeting, about 10.05pm, Mr Funnell called Mr Thompson and left a voicemail telling him to "get ready for legal action" if the matter went ahead.

Mr Funnell did not deny flagging potential legal action against councillors and Mr Thompson, but said to describe them as a threat misrepresented the intent and nature of discussions. He said he had both a legal and moral obligation to let parties know he was considering legal action against them.

He said the council and NCAT's framing of the matters was a "subversion of our democratic and political process".

"When you take such malicious prosecution against an individual 13 months after they have left public office and they use this fact, or process to attack someone who organised the leading ticket in a political process ... it's a Trumpism," Mr Funnell said.

"The malfeasance that happens within this organisation is sickening, it's disgraceful."

The referral to NCAT took place 14 days after the matter referred to in the judgement, Mr Thompson said.

With the exception of salaries paid to staff pursuing evidence to corroborate complaints against Mr Funnell, there is no evidence the council has directly spent ratepayer money on pursuing the complaints that were put before NCAT.

Councillor Rod Kendall said Mr Funnell's statements were "Trumpisms indeed".

He said councillors and staff - including him - had felt threatened by Mr Funnell's actions during his time in office, and it was inaccurate for Mr Funnell to say he had not participated in the process given he had agreed to the facts as presented by NCAT.

"What we've heard from Paul today is that claim that, as the perpetrator, he's the one who's being wronged in this process," Cr Kendall said.

"Paul ... agreed to the charges, he agreed to the facts. He was found guilty and sentenced by NCAT to a time of exclusion from public office - I think that's more than appropriate."

Mr Funnell said he doesn't intend to run for office again in the future, because his health will not support it.

In response to Mr Funnell's wider claims about council malfeasance, Mr Thompson said Council had not been party to the proceedings.

"The proceedings against Mr Funnell in relation to his behaviour were commenced by the NSW agency responsible for supervising councils and the behaviour of councillors," he said.

"The decision to disqualify Mr Funnell from holding civic office was made by the Civil and Administrative Tribunal of NSW. Mr Funnell was legally represented in the proceedings.

"In the judgement it is stated that Mr Funnell did not wish to contest the matter and that Mr Funnell submitted that an appropriate penalty for his misconduct would be disqualification from holding civic office for two years."