Community & Business
2 October, 2024
Mayor remains mum on termination
Mayor silent about CEO sacking
Terminating the CEO’s contract in such a public fashion has resulted in a week of speculation, turmoil and, for councillors, frustration. Lessons, however, have been learned.
The Journal spoke with Mayor Hamilton about the issue last week.
“I and the councillors who voted in favour of the motion, all of us, are finding it incredibly frustrating that we cannot give the community the information it wants. We’d all like to do this but Mr Burges, like any employee, is entitled to privacy.”
The Mayor is careful to comply with law to avoid additional costs to councils and acknowledges that Mr Burges, as a native to the Southern Downs, was well known and embedded in the community. Of course, she says, that makes the situation even more fraught.
“We all want to provide additional information, but we can’t,” Mayor Hamilton said. “In my personal opinion, in the information we had before us, the council acted in the best interests of ratepayers.”
The Mayor turns the topic to financial oversight and insists that the “financial implication” of the decision to terminate the CEO was well-thought out.
“The majority of councillors have been taking steps since April to improve the oversight on council.”
For instance, she believes tens of thousands of dollars can be saved on legal fees going forward and, indeed, as much as $500,000 of taxpayer money may be saved with tighter controls.
“We’ve implemented resolutions in relation to reporting, and we are tightening up some aspects of procurement. There were some aspects of procurement that should have been put to council that did not come before council,” the Mayor said.
“I want better oversight, overall.”
Mayor Hamilton said that the council tried to time the change of CEOs so that a new hire would be comfortably in place before the next budget phase next year.
Furthermore, she is keen to find a CEO who “shares the values of councillors in seeing that every dollar is a precious resource. Every dollar should be put through the lens of ‘is this good value for money’.”
The recruitment process will be merit-based and independent and the Mayor believes that good candidates will apply.
“This new council is certainly one that people want to work for and with. We are getting a reputation as a positive council and there’s a sense of excitement.” Part of the changed perception is due to the amount of time the Mayor spends in Toowoomba and Brisbane lobbying for the Southern Downs. Getting to speak to other public servants has allowed the state government to see the “aspirations” of the new council.
“And there’s a sense of excitement,” the Mayor says.
The future CEO’s contract will come up for review within six months of the next council election, a decision made in light of the close working relationship any new mayor and council must have with their CEO.
“The relationship between the councillors and the CEO is one where you absolutely need the full support of the CEO,” the Mayor explained, adding that no former CEOs will be considered for the position. The Journal did attempt to contact Mr Burges with no success.
Sidebar: What’s on the table
When councillors gather at an ordinary meeting, they rely on documentation provided by council staff to make good decisions. Those reports accompany the agenda to the council meeting that is posted on the SDRC website at proper intervals.
One issue that the Mayor mentioned is improvement both in the area of what reports are made available to councillors and the quality of the reports.
Aspects of certain reports have been questioned and clarifications have been requested by the Mayor and other councillors in recent meetings.
“I think the reports that we are getting are not as good as they could be. The public should be able to understand the issues,” Mayor Hamilton said.
She discovered that 23 out of 25 Queensland mayors she spoke with recently were in charge of what reports and documentation were included on the meeting agenda in order for councillors to make decisions. Only herself and one other mayor did not have control over that aspect of the process, a situation the Mayor intends to change immediately.
Curiously, the Mayor says that the previous mayor, Vic Pennisi, did direct what reports and documents were included in the meeting agenda. Mayor Hamilton could not speak to why that suddenly changed when she took office but she is clear about her future intentions.
“My focus will be working on those reports so that when they come to council we can make a decision.”
