In the 1998 Walsh report there is this comment:
“In total there are 11 positions at ‘Senior Officer’ level (defined in the Act as packages of more than $70,000 p.a.). Glen Eira’s five neighbouring councils have an average 20 ‘Senior Officer’ positions, one of them as high as 28.”
That was 12 years ago and the population of Glen Eira stood at roughly 118,000. Andrew Newton was Director of Corporate Management then and Jeff Akehurst was Director of City Development. Both have moved up! With Margaret Douglas’ sudden resignation, Newton became CEO. What impact has this had on Glen Eira?
We’ve done some research and discovered some fascinating facts and figures. Our sources are the 2006 census figures, and the 2008/9 Annual Reports from neighbouring, benchmarking Councils. The only variation is that the figure for senior staff for Port Phillip is even more current – ie. 30th June, 2010 – since they’ve already released their draft Annual Report.
The table we’ve subsequently drawn up reveals several major findings:
- Glen Eira has the highest number of ‘fat cats’ sitting on over $200,000 p.a. compared to the figures released by the other councils. It also has 30 individuals sitting on over $100,00 p.a.
In a time of economic downturn, where most organisations have ‘rationalised’ their staff and wages, Glen Eira appears to have bucked this trend.
| Glen Eira | Stonnington | Boroondara | Monash | Kingston | Bayside | PortPhillip | |
| Size(sq.k) | 38.7 | 26 | 60 | 82 | 91 | 36 | 20.62 |
| Pop. | 123,000 | 90,000 | 153,000 | 172,000 | 133,000 | 94,000 | 97,000 |
| Officers over $200,000 | 5 | ZILCH | ZILCH | 1 | ZILCH | ZILCH | 1 IN 2010 |
So, do we have too many ‘fat cats’? Are residents getting ‘value for money’? More on this in the coming days!
Glen Eira Debates 
September 8, 2010 at 11:43 AM
None of this is a surprise. Bureaucrats create bureaucracies. They need loyal lieutenants to carry out the corporate goals and the best way to maintain loyalty is highly paid yes men. The drawback though is that councillors become irrelevant and the residents don’t get a look in, especially if the community’s values and expectations are at odds with the corporate vision. These figures only go to show how different this council is to our neighbouring ones and the stranglehold of the bureaucracy.
September 8, 2010 at 11:42 PM
This letter to the Editor from Tuesday’s Caulfield Leader seems entirely apposite given the above:
Rates out of control
JUST received my council rate bill and found that the Glen Eira Council had doubled my rates, which is going to be hard not only for me but for other ratepayers trying to make ends meet in one of the worst economic recessions. It will see people losing their homes and the cost of living spiralling ever higher.
Isn’t it time that the council shows some restraint rather than being so greedy.
No wonder the former mayor, Helen Whiteside, could see ‘‘the writing on the wall’’of a council out of control.
September 9, 2010 at 6:17 PM
My rates have gone up $763 in the past two years. That is a fortune and with the forecast continued rise of at least 6.5% for the next couple of years we can all expect to be hit hard. I simply want to know what we’re getting for our money. As far as I can see, nothing much. Is it all going to pay for these ‘fat cats’? Nothing will convince me that with one of the smallest land areas and smaller populations that we need 5 people sitting on such obscene salaries when no other council in our area has similar wage expenses for their top brass.
Annual Reports are also very devious. They don’t reveal how many contractors are employed, how much outsourcing is happening, and how this impacts on the bottom line. Nor are we told how many staff actually service each department. It would be good to know if, for example, planning has 100 staff, or 20 staff. Even more intriguing would be the facts and figures as to ‘community relations’. How many staff does this sector control – 40, 60, 150? And then we can start fathoming whether any of this is necessary and compare with other councils who actually nominate the staff numbers for each department. See Bayside as an example of this.
There’s much that needs to be assessed and fixed up in this council and the way it has been allowed to burgeon beyond all necessity.
September 10, 2010 at 4:35 PM
Your table is complete rubbish and meaningless.Glen Eira prides itself on being benchmarked as a low cost operating Council.If you pay peanuts you get monkey’s. No two Councils operate in the same mannner. For example Glen Eira has an In House Solicitor and one would argue that even though he is a Senior Officer he saves the City huge sums of money. Council has Officers with MBA’s, Senior Accountants,IT experts Doctors, Nurses and many other Professionals. They are remunerated in a competative employment market.Finally the CEO of other Councils are paid nothing like $200,000.00.Try over $300,000.00.
September 10, 2010 at 4:45 PM
Dear Anonymous,
our table DOES NOT INCLUDE CEO SALARY!! Further, we doubt very much whether a nurse, or doctor employed by council would be receiving anywhere in the vicinity of $200,000p.a. We have not made up these figures – they are all freely available from other council’s websites. Simply do a search under ‘annual reports’ and see for yourself! The sad truth is that Glen Eira does have more people sitting on salaries of over $200,000 than any other council in its benchmarking set. That is a FACT!