Extraordinary Meeting of Council Meeting 02 June
2025
Mayoral Minute -
Recruitment and Appointment of General Manager
Item No: 1
Subject: Mayoral
Minute - Recruitment and Appointment of General Manager
Record No: SU3007 - 35015/25
Division: Lane
Cove Council
Author(s): Councillor
Merri Southwood
Background
Council resolved at an
Extraordinary Meeting of Council on 12 February 2025 that
1.Council notes the confidential correspondence from Mr.
Craig Wrightson (General Manager) to Cr Merri Southwood (Mayor) dated 6
February 2025 and accepts his resignation as General Manager of Lane Cove
Council with effect from 4 April 2025.
2. Council extends its sincere thanks to Mr. Wrightson for
his leadership and numerous achievements during his 21 years of service with
Lane Cove Council, including 12.5 years as General Manager.
Some of the notable highlights include:
· delivering the award winning The Canopy
· rejuvenating St Leonards, including the new
Library, Wadanggari Park (built over the railway line at St Leonards) and
Friedlander Place
· Lane Cove being voted the most Liveable place in
Australia in the 2021 Australian Liveability Census (and second place in the
2023 Census)
· delivering infrastructure to keep pace with
population growth, including new cultural facilities, improved parks and
recreation facilities including Blackman Park Sporting Complex, Mindarie Park,
early childhood education centres and car parks
· upgrades to the Lane Cove Aquatic Centre
including, expanded Gym, new 50m outdoor pool and 900 seat grandstand
· integrating Sustainability principles into
aspects of council’s activities, which was recently recognised with
Council winning the Local Government New South Wales Excellence in the
Environment Award
· focusing on improving the ‘look and
feel’ of Lane Cove by actively supporting the expansion of music,
cultural and neighbourhood events which has seen thousands of events enjoyed by
the community, including the popular concerts at The Canopy and Food and Wine
Fair.
3. Council expresses its confidence in the expertise
and commitment of the Council Executive Leadership Team and Council staff to
the delivery of the range of services enjoyed by the Lane Cove community and to
the ongoing implementation of the exciting initiatives approved or under
consideration by Council
4. pursuant to sections 336 and 351 of the Local
Government Act 1993, Council appoints Mr Steven Kludass, Director Corporate
Services and Strategy, to be the Council’s Acting General Manager when Mr
Wrightson is on leave and to remain as the Council’s Acting General
Manager until the Council appoints a new General Manager or until further
decision of the Council to appoint a different Acting General Manager,
whichever occurs first. Provided that if Mr Kludass is on leave prior to Council
appointing a new General Manager or appointing a different Acting General
Manager, the Mayor, following consultation with the Deputy Mayor, may
temporarily appoint another of Council’s directors as Interim General
Manager for the period of such leave.
5. Council engage LGNSW Management Solutions to
recruit a new General Manager for Lane Cove Council
6. in furtherance of the above, and consistent with
page 7 of the Office of Local Government Guidelines for the Appointment and
Oversight of General Managers 2022 (‘Guidelines’), the Council
delegates to the Mayor the task of ensuring:
· the selection panel is established,
· the General Manager’s position description
is current and evaluated in terms of salary to reflect the responsibilities of
the position,
· the proposed salary range reflects the
responsibilities and duties of the position,
· the position is advertised according to the
requirements of the Local Government Act 1993,
· information packages are prepared, and
· applicants selected for interview are notified.
7. the selection panel (referred to above) prepare a
selection panel report addressing the matters referred to on page 8 of the
Guidelines, which is to be presented to a future meeting of the Council for
consideration.
Pursuant to Item 5
above the LGNSW Management Solutions was engaged to manage and facilitate the
recruitment process.
Pursuant to Item 6
above the selection panel was convened as follows-
· Cllr Scott Bennison
· Cllr Rochelle Flood
· Cllr Bridget Kennedy
· Cllr Merri Southwood
· Claudia Nossa Cortes (suitably qualified person
independent of Council)
The position of General
Manager was advertised on the following websites from 21 March 2025
• National
Local Government Jobs Directory x 3 weeks
• Websites
www.CouncilJobs.com.au - Friday 21 March 2025 to close
www.CareersatCouncil.com.au - Friday 21 March 2025 to close
www.lgnsw.org.au/lgms - Friday 21 March 2025 to close
www.seek.com - Friday 21 March 2025 to close
www.lgassist.com.au/new-south-wales-nsw - Friday 21 March
2025 to close
LinkedIn – 25 March 2025 to close.
The closing date for
receipt of applications was 5:00 pm Monday 21 April 2025.
Applicants were
directed in the advertisement to the LGNSW/LGMS website for the Position
Description and Selection Criteria. Applicants were required to apply on-line
by including a cover letter and resume and addressing the selection criteria.
Information on the
position was provided by Claudia Nossa Cortes and information on the Council
via the Council’s website and documentation provided by Council.
In total, 25
applications were received for the position of General Manager.
LGNSW Recruitment
undertook an initial review process of all the applications and identified
seven candidates to present to the selection panel.
On 2 May 2025 the
selection panel identified six candidates for interview by the selection panel.
The selection panel
convened on 16 May 2025, 20 May 2025 and 26 May 2025 and interviewed the
short-listed candidates.
The selection panel
identified three candidates to progress to further interview in an
Extraordinary Meeting of Council to be conducted on 2 June 2025.
It is noted that the
selection panel membership remained the same through the entire recruitment
process.
The Mayor made a
request under the Code of Meeting Practice that an Extraordinary Meeting of
Council be called for the purpose of finalising the recruitment and appointment
of a new General Manager.
As part of the
candidate interview process, each candidate will be required to make a
presentation.
All Councillors will be
given an opportunity to ask questions as part of the process.
The task of contacting
referees was undertaken prior to the Extraordinary Meeting of Council by
Claudia Nossa Cortes of LGNSW Management Solutions. At least two referees were
contacted per candidate and asked questions about the candidate relevant to the
selection criteria.
In addition,
appropriate background checks including a tertiary qualification check have
been undertaken.
Extraordinary
Meeting on 2 June 2025
The purpose of this
Extraordinary Meeting is for Council to finalise the recruitment and
appointment of the new General Manager.
It is recommended that
Council resolve to move to confidential session for this process in accordance
with Section 10A(2)(a) of the Local Government Act 1993, which permits the
meeting to be closed to the public for business relating to the following:
Personnel matters
concerning particular individuals (other than councillors)
Copies of the
confidential documentation regarding the candidates have been restricted for
distribution to Councillors only. It is recommended that in accordance with
section 11(3) of the Local Government Act that Council resolves that this
documentation is to be treated as confidential.
It is anticipated that,
at the conclusion of the interview process, Councillors will vote on a motion
to the following effect –
· Council will resolve to appoint an identified
(but not named) candidate to the position of General Manager, subject to the
negotiation of a contract
· If negotiations are not successful, Council
resolves to appoint the preferred second candidate
· Council resolves to affix the Council seal to
the contract in accordance with the Local Government Act
· Council resolves that the documentation provided
to Councillors regarding the candidates will be treated as confidential.
In accordance with
clause 14.24 of the Code of Meeting Practice, the chairperson will make public
via webcast any resolutions passed during the closed meeting as soon as
practicable after the meeting, including the names of Councillors who voted for
or against each motion or amendment.
Finalising the
appointment
It is noted that the
Council must by resolution approve the position of the General Manager being
offered to the successful candidate before that position is actually offered to
the candidate.
In accordance with the
Office of Local Government Guidelines for the Appointment and Oversight of
General Managers 2022, the Mayor will be delegated the authority to make the
offer of employment should the Council resolve to appoint the successful candidate.
Conditions such as the
term of the contract and remuneration package are to be offered in accordance
with the range approved by the Council and as advised by LGNSW.
The Standard Contract
for the Employment of General Managers as approved by the Chief Executive of
the Division of Local Government must be used.
Only the term and the
schedules to the Standard Contract can be individualised.
I seek Council’s
support for the Recommendation below.
|
RECOMMENDATION
1. That Council notes that this process has been
undertaken having given consideration to the Guidelines for the Appointment
and Oversight of General Managers issued by the Department of Local
Government (now Office of Local Government) July 2011
2. That Council resolves to move to confidential
session in accordance with Section 10A(2)(a) and (d)(i) of the Local
Government Act 1993, which permits the meeting to be closed to the public for
business relating to the following:
Personnel matters concerning particular
individuals (other than councillors)
3. That in accordance with section 11(3) of the
Local Government Act Council resolves that documentation provided to
Councillors regarding the candidates is to be treated as confidential
4. That it be noted that once in confidential
session and in accordance with Clause 12.1 of the Code of Meeting Practice
that Council will resolve itself into a committee to finalise the recruitment
and appointment of a new General Manager.
|
Councillor Merri Southwood
Councillor
ATTACHMENTS:
There are no supporting documents for this report.
