The former mayor of St Paul’s Bay, Graziella Galea, did not use her influence to gain an unfair advantage or to make unwarranted personal gain, the National Audit Office said on Monday.

However, there were a number of shortcomings highlighted in the report represented to parliament, some of which were common to other councils, it said.

Some of the shortcomings were directly attributed to the fact that the council was not adequately manned, despite the locality’s highest population in the country with over 23,000 citizens.

During most of the mayor’s tenure, there was only an acting executive secretary working only limited hours, focused solely on essential day-to-day needs, it noted.

The investigation was requested by Local Government Minister Owen Bonnici, after the Local Governance Board concluded that there had been a breach of the Local Councils Act and the Financial Regulations, following a series of allegations made against the Nationalist mayor.

These allegations were brought to the attention of the board by the minority leader of the council, on behalf of all the councillors representing the Labour Party in the same locality.

Ms Galea had resigned as mayor in January, keeping her position on the council.  She was elected to the locality in  2015 obtaining the highest amount of votes.

The NAO came to same conclusion as the board on seven of the allegations. However, it disagreed that there had been a breach of the financial regulations when no mid-term audit was requested on the appointment of the mayor.

“Indeed, audit regulations clearly stipulate that a mid-term audit is required upon the appointment of an executive secretary, not the mayor,” it said.

With respect to illegal traffic signs, the NAO expressed reservations, in view of interviews with the relevant stakeholders having revealed that the concern merely related to road markings in one particular street in St Paul’s Bay—which markings have been in place, at least, since 2005.

It also transpired that both the minority leader and the then-mayor questioned the feasibility of the board’s recommendation to carry out an audit on the traffic signs in the locality and produce a report highlighting any remedial action.

The NAO concluded that most of the issues raised related to administrative shortcomings which applied to in a number of local councils, and which were repeatedly highlighted in its reports.

This report is available in the publications section of the NAO website at http://www.nao.gov.mt, as well as on the NAO Facebook page at www.facebook.com/NAOMalta.