By WAYNE THOMPSON
Sewer patrolman and whistleblower. Died aged 59.
Raised in tough South London, in bread-and-dripping postwar days, Eric Owen Hobbs brought compassion for the underdog to his new home at Birkdale on the North Shore.
That compassion, coupled with extreme honesty, led to him being sacked in 1991 for taking
his employer, the North Shore City Council, to task in letters to his community newspaper.
Council and talkback radio switchboards were besieged by residents expressing disgust over the sewer patrolman's sacking and a law firm offered free legal representation to get his job back.
An outraged group of 150, some in overalls and boots, invaded the council offices. But the council stood firm.
What annoyed councillors about Hobbs was his double life as a concerned ratepayer with a defiant urge to lambast the council for perceived mismanagement.
Hobbs took his case to the Employment Tribunal.
He said he started writing letters because of concern at the effect the 1989 local body amalgamation was having on service to ratepayers.
The tribunal adjudicator, Jim Newman, had him back at work a month later, saying Hobbs had the right as a ratepayer to criticise elected members of the council.
In October 1992 Hobbs was elected to the Birkenhead-Northcote Community Board, vowing to be a voice for the ordinary people.
When he died he was the board's deputy chairman and works committee chair, and still working for the council's drainage service company.
