Top city bosses’ wages hit $400,000
• John Masanauskas
• From: Herald Sun
• August 29, 2011 12:00AM
COUNCIL chief executives are on notice about their pay packets as the top municipal salary package breaks through $400,000. Several metropolitan council chiefs earn about $350,000, including bonuses, putting their salary packages up with the $365,000 a year paid to Prime Minister Julia Gillard.
Local Government Minister Jeanette Powell said she had asked her department to look at how managers were paid in other jurisdictions to see if councils could be better advised on appropriate CEO salaries. “Council CEO salaries have been raised with the peak bodies of the local government sector as part of discussions on a range of issues,” she said.
Melbourne City Council’s Kathy Alexander is the highest paid CEO, with a $425,000 annual package. A council spokeswoman said Dr Alexander was in charge of a $346 million budget and 1200 staff. “The role of a capital city CEO requires strong leadership and professional and technical expertise (and the salary) is reflective of the significant responsibility and expectation associated with the role,” she said.
Darebin Council CEO Rasiah Dev has a package of up to $349,000, while Boroondara’s Catherine Dale and Kingston’s John Nevins earn up to $340,000. Bayside CEO Adrian Robb earned up to $260,000 last year, but said his current pay could only be revealed through a personal inspection of a register at the council’s offices.
Mornington Peninsula Shire councillors have come under fire for renewing veteran CEO Michael Kennedy’s contract without advertising the position. Former Kennett government minister Robin Cooper said Mr Kennedy was first appointed in 1999 and it was a disgrace that councillors were not testing the market for the $319,000-plus perks job. But Mornington mayor Graham Pittock said councillors had voted to stick with Mr Kennedy after an external assessment.
Hobsons Bay councillor Tony Briffa said CEO salaries were rising too fast. However, Municipal Association of Victoria president Bill McArthur said CEOs ran big operations. Their salaries should be compared with those of public service heads, not politicians. “I believe council CEOs receive a justifiable salary for what is a pretty tough job,” he said. “When you look at similar roles in private enterprise, their remuneration goes into the millions of dollars, even for poor performance.”
masanauskasj@heraldsun.com.au
COMMENT: Ratepayers everywhere should be grateful to councillors at Hobson’s Bay, since they probably got the ball rolling on this contentious issue. On February 8th, 2011 they passed a resolution (in response to a Notice of Motion!!!!) which read:
“Moved Cr Tony Briffa, seconded Cr John Hogg, that the Council:
1. Writes to the Premier, (the Hon. Ted Baillieu), Minister for Local Government (the Hon. Jeanette Powell), the Shadow Minister for Local Government (the Hon. Richard Wynne), the members of the Victorian Legislative Assembly for Altona and Williamstown Districts and the members of the Victorian Legislative Council for the Western Metropolitan Region, recommending that the Minister for Local Government appoints a panel to conduct a public review into the remuneration of Victorian Local Government Chief Executive Officers;
2. Submits a motion for the consideration of the May 2011 meeting of the Municipal Association of Victoria State Council, seeking a resolution to support the request for a Local Government (CEO Remuneration Review) Panel; and
3. Requests the Victorian Local Governance Association support a Local Government (CEO Remuneration Review) Panel.”
Of course, setting a limit to CEO salaries only addresses half of the problem. When councils have 5 directors sitting on over $230,000 per annum (plus other fringe benefits) as Glen Eira does, then the argument becomes a lot easier that CEOs should receive heaps more. Perhaps one possible solution is cut the pay of underlings and that will stop the huge pay hikes for CEOs? and who, after all, establishes director pay scales and is in charge of hiring and firing?
Glen Eira Debates 
September 9, 2011 at 12:13 PM
What a wank. Pay the fat cats a fortune so chief fat cat can become even fatter
September 9, 2011 at 12:23 PM
Tell me about the (Modeerators: phrase deleted) reported to be earning $5m and planning to increase his firms profit by hiring cheap foreign workers and firing Australians. Put the (Moderators: phrase deleted) If you pay peanuts you get monkey’s.
September 9, 2011 at 4:49 PM
I think that just on half of our rates go on salaries. Under Newton the workforce has increased dramatically whilst most businesses have cut back. What residents are never told in the annual reports are the add ons such as the payouts to consultants and contractors. I’d hazard a guess that when you figure these people in, then closer to 60% of our rates would be gobbled up by such wages and payouts. It’s never been fully explained either why this council requires 5 directors on such huge salaries when other councils in the area don’t have anything near 5 people earning these obscene wages. We’re also not told what their expenses are. Councillors have their costs made public but all the lurks and perks that officers and staff receive remains top secret. How about some disclosure on things like phone bills, trips, accommodation and all the other stuff that we get to read about for councillors?
September 9, 2011 at 5:56 PM
The question is, does paying more get you better person?
I would say, it aint not necessarily so.
If I were the councilors, I would re-advertise the CEO position a 100.000 or more, less than the present salary, and see who you get, we may well do a lot better for less.
After all, the job isn’t that difficult, we all admit that the skill set the CEO brings to his position, may well suit the running a shoe manufacturing company.
In his person skills as a community leader he sink like a stone in a very very deep pond. He has demonstrated an infinite number of times he just doesn’t have what it takes to be involved in community development, and this failure infects the whole apparatus.
He may well think, that its not his job to be in-touch with the community, that is the job of the councilors, so he doesn’t encroach into the limelight. This is a cop-out on his behalf, he has been in his position long enough to have learnt the ropes, backwards, and this hasn’t happened, and it never will.
I think as ratepayers are only getting half of what we pay for when it comes to the CEO.
September 13, 2011 at 9:57 AM
Glennie thank G-d your not a Councillor and therefore your ignorance is just that. Your ignorance.
December 4, 2011 at 6:05 PM
I don;t understand. If other similar size Councills within Victoria pay their CEO’s more than $300K, then why would you expect Glen Eira to pay less?