Ex-Parramatta Council CEO Accused of Faking Signature on $500k Contract

A former City of Parramatta Council chief executive copied an associate's signature to quickly sign her employment contract for a $500,000-a-year position before the offer could be rescinded, the corruption watchdog has been told.

Gail Connolly was the chief executive from 2023, until a split council vote ended her tenure in October 2025.

At an Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) hearing on Thursday, she was questioned around the circumstances of how she was appointed to the role.

The commission was shown text messages between Ms Connolly and Roxanne Thornton, a fellow member of a network of close friends and local government bureaucrats, where Ms Connolly said she was "digging dirt" on the role's other contender, Bryan Hynes, who had been acting chief executive at the time.

When asked by Counsel Assisting Joanna Davidson SC what she meant by that, Ms Connolly said she meant she was "getting background" on her competition.

Ms Connolly also told the commission she had been under the impression she had entered into a "verbal contract" after being informed she had been successful in the role, and wrongly assumed her more-than $500,000 salary had been approved.

A rescission motion was submitted by council in March 2023, in an attempt to stop her employment from going ahead.

Ms Davidson told the commission the then-head of Local Government New South Wales (LGNSW) Scott Phillips, sent Ms Connolly a copy of legal advice he had provided to the council about the validity of the rescission motion.

When questioned about whether Ms Connolly had considered it appropriate for her to be receiving advice intended for the council, she told the commission that then-lord mayor Donna Davis had already been sharing it with her verbally.

Ms Davis, who is now the state MP for Parramatta, declined to comment while the matter was before ICAC.

Ms Connolly also acknowledged that Mr Phillips was a friend of hers, and it was "difficult to separate the personal and the professional" in various correspondence between them.

The commission was also shown further legal advice, provided by Mr Phillips to Parramatta Council, about how much general managers should be paid.

That advice was also passed on to Ms Connolly.

'Just wrote your signature'

In the lead-up to the council meeting where the attempt to rescind Ms Connolly's employment would have been discussed, Ms Connolly signed her contract, which meant the rescission motion could not go ahead.

The commission heard that Ms Connolly had Ms Thornton witness her signature over FaceTime, before Ms Thornton sent Ms Connolly a copy of her signature to attach to the document.

When Ms Connolly was then told a "wet ink" signature was required, she told the inquiry she had "wrote over the top" of Ms Thornton's electronic signature with her consent.

The commission was then shown a text exchange between the pair, where Ms Connolly told Ms Thornton: "just wrote your signature".

Ms Thornton replied: "F***, that's pretty good."

The contract was then sent to council.

Ms Davidson asked Ms Connolly whether the reason she wrote over Ms Thornton's signature was so the contract could be signed before the council could convene to vote on the attempt to rescind it.

Ms Connolly replied: "Yes, I think so."

Later in the hearing, Ms Davidson showed Ms Connolly a side-by-side comparison of Ms Thornton's electronic signature and the signature Ms Connolly wrote onto the document and pointed out discrepancies in the way the letters were formed.

"It couldn't possibly be the case that you wrote over the top of it, if you look at those two images," Ms Davidson said.

Ms Connolly then said she had used the light from a window to trace Ms Thornton's signature.

"Was there any reason why you didn't mention the tracing of the signature this morning?" Ms Davidson asked.

"I'm just trying to be more precise," Ms Connolly replied.

'Disappear into a big black hole'

Ms Connolly was taken through the circumstances surrounding the exit of Bernadette Cavanagh, who led the council's People and Culture department.

The inquiry previously heard that Ms Cavanagh had raised concerns about the negotiating of Ms Connolly's contract.

A message thread between Ms Connolly, Ms Thornton, and longtime friend Angela Jones-Blayney was again shown during Thursday's hearing, where Ms Connolly said staff she believed had been undermining her "must have a death wish".

Ms Jones-Blayney followed up with: "Those guys are gonna disappear into a big blackhole never to be seen again."

When questioned about the exchange, Ms Connolly told the commission her comments "didn't necessarily mean" she intended to terminate people.

Ms Cavanagh's employment ended in May 2023, through a negotiated deed of release that allowed for the reason for her departure to be communicated as resignation.

Ms Connolly, along with others, are being investigated by the state's corruption watchdog over allegations they subverted council's hiring processes to appoint their friends into senior roles.

The former chief executive is also accused of misusing public funds to remove staff through deeds of release, along with leaking confidential council documents to third parties and spying on employees through targeted electronic surveillance.

Other members of Ms Connolly's network of associates, also known as the "Pink Ladies", have already given evidence at the inquiry.

Ms Connolly is the last to take the witness stand, as the public hearings near the end of their fourth and final week.

She will continue giving evidence on Friday.