Was there bad faith behind the departure of CEO Dave Burges, Director Leon Love and Director Scott Riley or, as Mayor Hamilton has suggested of former “senior staff”, concerning behaviour?
Mr Burges said he, for one, never stood a chance when Mayor Melissa Hamilton took office.
“I’m glad to be out of that toxic political environment,” he told The Town & Country Journal last week. “Over 90 years of local government experience walked out that door with the forced departure of myself and two directors and she’s been in the game just a few weeks.”
Mr Burges spoke up after weeks of silence after his unceremonious dismissal in September. He told the paper that he understood that it is not uncommon for CEOs to have their contracts terminated when a new mayor comes in despite the fact that directors and CEOs, like all public servants, are meant to be apolitical and ready to serve whoever is elected.
From the earliest days of the new council Mr Burges said he felt the chill. He says that the first time he met with Mayor Hamilton after the election the discussion turned to his “future” and the possibility of him staying only “temporarily”.
“I tried very hard to be welcoming,” Mr Burges said, explaining how he held extensive induction programs with the new councillors to get them up to speed. But there were no opportunities for “informal discussions, no comradery, no tossing ideas around, none of that”.
The Mayor and the CEO limped along for the first few months but the relationship, he says, was never good. Mr Burges says that he was given 45 minutes per week to talk to the mayor after he submitted a list of topics ahead of time to her. Mr Burges claims that Mayor Hamilton rang him whilst on leave from council and told him that “things aren’t working out” and an offer to settle his contract was made and, on his part, rejected. He told this paper that he believes the Mayor “wanted to buy my silence by signing a deed of settlement” and no agreement was reached.
According to Mr Burges, council had previously hired HR consultants McArthur to perform Mr Burges’ scheduled performance review and Mr Burges duly put in many hours completing the necessary and “extremely comprehensive” submission for the review process. His understanding was that when he returned from his family holiday overseas, he would meet with the consultants and the Mayor
Instead, he received an email in Barcelona informing him that his contract was terminated, he says.
When asked about Cr Bartley’s motion of support for the CEO in the September council meeting, Mr Burges could only speculate and say that Cr Bartley “was privy to conversations that I was not privy to” and that Cr Bartley “was obviously feeling something wasn’t right.”
“The timing is very interesting because we had engaged an independent company to do my annual review, which is not out of the ordinary,” Mr Burges explained, but there were no grounds based on the contents of the performance review to “get me out based on performance”.
“I respect the decision they made but how they did it was disgusting and underhanded,” Mr Burges says, referring to the public nature of the termination of his contract during a council meeting.
As for suggestions that there were inappropriate consultancies, procurement processes or contracts undertaken or extended during his tenure, Mr Burges rejects out of hand.
“To my knowledge, I’ve never contravened a policy,” he says. “All the allegations are completely untrue. I’ve acted on behalf of the organisation as I have with all councils over the last 25 years.”
It “devalues the office of the mayor”, says Dave, to engage in a “smear campaign.”
As for the departure of director Scott Riley and Leon Love, Burges suggests people would have to “believe in the tooth fairy” to think it wasn’t part of the same operation to change top management at council.
Burges admits that he’s made mistakes in his career, he is far from perfect, but that the actions around his and others’ separation from council recently gives the shire “a stench” which permeates the community. Furthermore, he says it has made council staff “anxious”.
“I met with Leon Love when we were overseas and we made a joke about him having a job when he got back, and just days after he got back he allegedly resigned. If you believe he resigned to go on to better things, that’s not true.”
“They [the new councillors] wanted significant change, and that’s the sad part. I understand CEOs might exit with a new mayor but for that to permeate down to director and manager level is terrible. It’s gutter politics.”
Mr Burges also expressed regret about “all the milestones and improvements” that were made in the past four years, particularly in terms of IT, culture and asset management.
As for the future? Mr Burges isn’t worried. He’s received texts and emails from other mayors and colleagues around the country and he’s confident he’ll find work although he hopes to remain in the shire.
