Council to keep closer eye on CEO

SOUTH Gippsland Shire Council CEO Tim Tamlin will come under closer scrutiny from councillors.
All nine councillors will sit on the Chief Executive Officer Employment and Review Committee, after Cr Don Hill called for all councillors to have input. In the past, a minimum of two councillors have been members. This was the outcome of council’s adoption of the C71 Chief Executive Office Employment and Remuneration Policy last Wednesday.
The proposed new Local Government Act now before State Parliament requires such a policy to be established. Mr Tamlin’s second five year contract expires on June 24, 2019.
Cr Jeremy Rich said all nine councillors “have their own opinions and we like to have input”.
“Getting the best outcome is going to be a collaboration of all nine of us,” he said.
Cr Ray Argento and Cr Alyson Skinner agreed. Cr Andrew McEwen said choosing a CEO was council’s most important decision.
Cr Maxine Kiel was against the committee comprising all councillors. She said the sub-committee would make a recommendation to council that all nine councillors would debate anyhow.
Mayor Cr Lorraine said the current policy requires no less than two councillors to sit on the CEO sub-committee and believed that was sufficient.
“You are going to drown out your independent chair with strong voices,” she said.
Cr Hill retorted, “I believe the government has asked for an independent chair for a reason. There is no way the council is going to drown out the independent chair.”
Mr Tamlin told The Star last Thursday he was not sure whether he would seek to be reappointed.
“It’s too early in the process yet. I have not really put my mind to it. It will be early next year when I think about what I want to do,” he said.
The CEO said council now needed to decide whether to advertise the CEO’s role or reappoint him. The committee will be headed by an independent chairperson, who will be paid $1200 for each of four meetings. Council will now seek a chairperson to recommend.
If council decides to seek a new CEO, council will appoint a specialist recruitment consultant to help do so. Mr Tamlin was absent from debate on the matter at last Wednesday’s council meeting due to a conflict of interest

Opinions needed: Cr Andrew McEwen (left) said choosing a CEO was council’s most important decision. He is watched by Cr Jeremy Rich at last Wednesday’s meeting.

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Posted by Tayla Kershaw on Aug 28 2018. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry