BRIMBANK Council's ruined reputation has reflected on to its residents, local community leaders say.
In the fallout after the release of a damning Ombudsman's report last week, residents' groups have argued ratepayers have continued to pay the price for councillors' conduct and decisive action was needed to rectify the situation.
Sunshine Residents and Ratepayers Association president Darlene Reilly called for the council to be sacked.
She claimed a factional war was still going on within the council.
"There's a brokered peace at the moment that can only last for so long," Ms Reilly said.
"Councillors are still working for ministers. The problems are still there," she said.
"Brimbank Council will not regain its reputation until they sack this council.
"One of the things I realised when I first moved in here was that people didn't want to rock the boat because you would be punished. Everyone believes that the councillors and the council have the ability to punish you, but at the same time people are actively lobbying them to make friends with them.
"It seems that if you wanted anything in this community you had to do something for the councillors personally."
St Albans Traders Association Secretary Asip Demiri said the report's findings were only the tip of the iceberg and research should be extended to the period from the late 1990s.
"We've all known about these issues. "They've all been happening before our very eyes," Mr Demiri said.
"The only way that it's going to be a wake-up call for Brimbank is if they investigate beyond and go at least to the late 1990s - who was supporting certain councillors and why, and who paid for their campaigns?
"A few corrupt people in the area don't change the fact that we have very nice people living here, but I would feel prouder if we had proper governance."
Keilor Residents and Ratepayers Association president Susan Jennison described the report as devastating, saying residents would suffer because of the council's poor reputation.
"You just don't know how you can feel confident about it when you know that some of the players are still there - the players who might have been in the previous council, or within the Labor Party, who are still promoting or working with these different councillors," Ms Jennison said. "You have to build up the confidence of the residents who, in good faith, think that they love the place they live in. But with representatives like this, it certainly doesn't make them feel good about where they live."
Community campaigner Marilyn Canet said the absence of previous investigations had led to the present situation on the council.
"The recommendations made in the report, while commendable, in my view will not alleviate a resurgence of the culture in the future. The core sources have remained unchecked," she said.
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