Bryan Sword is acting CEO
Bryan Sword will be the acting CEO of South Gippsland Shire Council come June 25.
He is currently council’s director of development services and will replace current CEO Tim Tamlin, whom council chose not to re-appoint, saying it wanted a new direction.
Cr Aaron Brown was the only councillor to object to the appointment of Mr Sword to the acting CEO’s role today – not because he did not agree with the chosen candidate, but rather the process council followed to do so.
Cr Brown said he only learnt of the candidates for the acting CEO’s role an hour before the meeting held at the council chamber at 11am.
He said the process was rushed by council, ahead of likely dismissal by the State Government in the wake of municipal monitor Peter Stephenson raising concerns about council’s governance processes.
Cr Brown called for councillors to wait until the State Government determines council’s future, before choosing an acting CEO.
The vote to choose a candidate was to be held in a public session of council but took place in a closed session at the last minute, to the surprise of the public present and council staff.
Mr Sword was waiting outside the council chamber after the vote.
Cr Andrew McEwen was the only councillor not to be present for the vote. He was an apology. He had knee surgery earlier this week.
Cr McEwen and Mr Tamlin have a history, with both Cr McEwen and his late wife Maggie Loughrey losing their council jobs after a council-wide restructure initiated by Mr Tamlin.
Cr McEwen was director of sustainability and Ms Loughrey was manager of organisational development.
After the restructure, their positions no longer existed. They applied for new roles but were unsuccessful.
Mr Sword is a resident of Inverloch, a keen golfer and father.
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