The Ballarat mayor Cr Ben Taylor is looking to push ahead with plans for the quick appointment of an interim chief executive officer.
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It follows the termination of Justine Linley's contract last week in the wake of a highly critical Ombudsman's report.
Cr Taylor said the move to employ an interim CEO would provide "clarity" and "stability" both to the community and staff at the City of Ballarat.
The mayor is attempting to introduce urgent items for consideration at tomorrow night's ordinary council meeting.
Firstly Cr Taylor is looking to seek council approval to write to the Victorian Ombudsman Deborah Glass outlining actions council has taken since the report was released on Thursday May 14 - as well as set out the next steps.
Another urgent item would recommend council choose a recruitment agency to help the City of Ballarat find a replacement CEO.
The City of Ballarat has already sought expressions of interest from agencies.
Cr Taylor said he hoped council would be able to choose an agency in open council tomorrow and that the process would allow councillors to have names of potential interim CEOs by the end of the week. Interviews could possibly take place next week, he said.
Cr Taylor said the urgent items would firstly need to be accepted by fellow councillors to be heard within the council chamber.
The introduction of an urgent item is a move councillors or officers occasionally make once the agenda has already been finalised.
The salary for an interim CEO will not be clear until an appointment was made but the mayor said it would most likely be "on a par" with Ms Linley's salary.
The remuneration for the CEO was listed as between $320,000 to $329,999 in the most recent annual report, a figure that includes allowances such as a car.
That's why an interim CEO will provide that clarity with the community but also with the staff
- Ballarat City mayor, Cr Ben Taylor
The mayor also said there was "no bad blood" between the City of Ballarat and the Ombudsman following the release of the highly critical "Investigation of alleged improper conduct by Executive Officers at Ballarat City Council".
The 79-page report outlined an investigation into alleged nepotism, as well as concerns about procurement and purchase cards. It focused on Terry Demeo, the council's director of infrastructure and environment, and the chief executive Justine Linley. Mr Demeo subsequently resigned last Monday, while councillors voted to remove Ms Linley from her post with six months' salary on the same day.
Cr Taylor said a swift external appointment would be important for the wider community and the City of Ballarat itself.
"That's why as a council, that's why I've tried to work with council to act decisively and as quickly as we can with the advice we have been given so we can give some confidence to the organisation.
[The staff] do a great job - they provide hundreds of services across the city so they need our support as well to get on and do their job.
"That's why an interim CEO will provide that clarity with the community but also with the staff."
Since Ms Linley was dismissed last Monday, there have been signs of fracturing between the six councillors who voted for the former CEO's immediate dismissal and three councillors who wished to talk to Ms Linley prior to making a decision.
Cr Taylor reiterated his stance on the dismissal, which formed the majority view:
"It was pretty clear that the position in the end wasn't tenable for the CEO to come back to the organisation.
"We went through a whole lot of options and we went through a lot of advice on it and we made a decision."
Cr Taylor said a crucial part of the new interim CEO role would be to review policies and procedures for recruitment, procurement and council purchase cards.
The interim CEO is likely to be at the City of Ballarat until a new council - due to be elected in October - completes the recruitment process for a new, permanent CEO.
THE COURIER'S FULL COVERAGE:
- City of Ballarat ombudsman report: 'jobs for mates' allegations regarding Ballarat Council executives
- Ombudsman report into Ballarat council: councillors express disappointment
- Ombudsman report into City of Ballarat: Councillors told to scrutinise CEO behaviour
- City of Ballarat ombudsman report: The intriguing finer details
- Council executive resigns after scandalous Ombudsman report
- City of Ballarat CEO Justine Linley sacked by councillors
- Ombudsman's report into Ballarat Council: What next for council officers?
- Ombudsman report pressures Ballarat Council to change complaints process
- Ombudsman's report: More woes for City of Ballarat with queries over acting CEO
- External concerns raised over City of Ballarat recruitment in early 2016
- Why the three of us voted against sacking the CEO
The mayor also said there was "no bad blood" between the City of Ballarat and the Ombudsman following the release of the highly critical "Investigation of alleged improper conduct by Executive Officers at Ballarat City Council" on May 14.
The report, which outlined research about alleged hiring of friends, as well as concerns about procurement and purchase cards, has already led to two departures.
Firstly there was the resignation of Terry Demeo, who was the council's director of infrastructure and environment, then council voted to remove Ms Linley from her post with six months' salary.
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