With typical subterfuge, secrecy, and minimalist interpretation of the Local Government Act, this group of councillors have once again let the community down big time. Andrew Newton has been reappointed for another term.
Buried in yesterday’s Age was the miniscule advertisement to this effect. Buried even deeper on council’s Public Notices section of the website is this totally non-informative announcement –
“Reappointment of Chief Executive Officer
In accordance with Section94(4) of the Local Government Act 1989, public notice is given that the Glen Eira City Council intends to put a resolution to reappoint Mr Andrew Newton as its Chief Executive Officer.
The passing of this resolution would result in the reappointment of the Chief Executive Officer without the position being advertised.”
As we’ve commented previously, no job should be for life, especially in senior management. By not advertising or even being willing to ‘test the waters’ these councillors will never know who might be capable of doing a better job. Given the turbulent history of this council (all under the stewardship of Newton), it is unbelievable in our view that no advertising of the position will occur. All residents need to demand a full and open account of the goings on from every single councillor.
October 23, 2013 at 3:26 PM
Bet yas the vote went Lipshutz Esakoff Hyams Sounness Lobo Okotel to reappoint. Pathetic gutless wonders the whole damn lot.
October 23, 2013 at 8:43 PM
Add Pilling and subtract Lobo. The Greens have well and truly lost the plot.
October 23, 2013 at 10:56 PM
Nah, Lobo’s Newton’s god child.
October 23, 2013 at 3:59 PM
Always on the cards with the current incumbents. Residents are the big losers.
October 23, 2013 at 4:03 PM
I agree 100% with Smart Aleck. We need to take this matter to the appropriate authorities.Please tell me which section of the Local Government Act has been transgressed so that we can take swift action.
October 23, 2013 at 4:43 PM
Noone who is getting paid this kind of salary should automatically have his contract extended. Even CEO’s of major corporations are changed regularly and have to report to share holders on their performance. In Glen Eira none of this happens. Residents keep receiving the general spin that Newton is the best man for the job. As the post says – how do they know if they never bother to look elsewhere.
Nothing in my book excuses the countless botchups under Newton and the amount of money this has cost ratepayers. Legal fees are astronomical and no one is accountable. The basketball allocation process was a disaster and again no one is accountable. Car parks at Gesac are add-ons and still no one is accountable. I would say that the buck stops at Newton’s desk and he is responsible. How councillors can ignore all these things is beyond me.
October 23, 2013 at 6:08 PM
Newton’s a protected species and you’ve got to ask why
October 23, 2013 at 7:46 PM
We don’t only get Newton but Burke, Akehurst, Swabey, Waite the acolytes who are paid well enough to keep their traps shut, jobs secure, and a yes sir mentality. The moral? Money buys loyalty and shut lips.
October 23, 2013 at 8:47 PM
Council have underestimated the hatred of Newton by the residents of Glen Eira at their peril. This will bite them on the arse big time.
October 23, 2013 at 10:32 PM
Yeah I agree, testing the patients of residents stunts the potential growth of the council. Whittling it away freely on Newton was a poor choice when considering Hyams isn’t contesting.
October 23, 2013 at 9:01 PM
No frank and open discussions on the new zones and now no frank and open discussions on the process involving the appointment of the CEO.
Yet $17,000 fruitlessly spent on trying to hoodwink the community into supporting Lipshutz’s desire for a cafe in Caulfield Park – an idea already resounding rejected twice in the past 4 years.
Same old, same old – and it sucks
October 24, 2013 at 11:01 AM
“Hatred of Newton”. Respect of Newton. Just look at the prices achieved at Auctions in the area and you will see how desirable it is to live in our Municipality. Read the Annual Independent Survey and compare our City with others.. Look at Benchmarking.” Hate” is a really harsh word that was invented by the previous opposition and has no place in Politics.
October 24, 2013 at 11:16 AM
Reckon you deserve the prize for the most moronic comment of the year. You’re not a developer by any chance are you?
November 2, 2013 at 4:57 AM
No, I think he is a councillor!
October 24, 2013 at 12:49 PM
C60 is a disaster for people and its all due to Newton and 4 lousy councilors. Nothing tops this but I’m fearful that worst is in store whilst he’s still there.
October 24, 2013 at 2:18 PM
There’s a continuing problem at GECC whereby Council resolutions aren’t being recorded in the Minutes, nor are relevant reports or even summaries of reports considered in the decision-making. On top of that, there’s the excessive use of secrecy. It appears Council has resolved in secret not to invite applications for the position of CEO but to leverage the exemption in LGA S94(4).
Last time the CEO was reappointed there was no summary of reports or indeed any information to justify the decision to reappoint. We were all treated with contempt by the then-mayor Cr Esakoff, who thought making unsubstantiated statements without evidence to be sufficient.
LGA forces upon us that we have to have a CEO, and outlines what the CEO is responsible for. We know that Council decisions aren’t always implemented without undue delay, we know that timely advice isn’t always provided to Council, and we know that a code of conduct for Council staff isn’t widely disseminated. The CEO is responsible when council staff illegally refuse access to documents that PAEA and other Acts state are to be available to the public free of charge. The CEO is responsible more generally for the staff and their behaviour. This includes all the substandard reports that appear in Council Agendas, and the decisions staff make under delegation where “integrity” can be perceived to be doubtful. A considerable fraction of the vast sums of money that have been spent pursuing Cr Penhalluriack appears to have been driven by the CEO.
Then there’s all the lobbying on behalf of the MRC, the pedestrian barriers along Queens Ave that have contributed to pedestrian/vehicle “accidents”, the overgrown vegetation, the lack of progress on the fencing around the precinct despite the agreement that he negotiated. Having pushed so hard for Council to sell “surplus” land, we have the dubious distinction of having the least amount of public open space per capita in all of metropolitan Melbourne.
If Andrew is to be reappointed, then some sort of public statement should be made that addresses the problems that the CEO is responsible for, and outlining how the performance of the CEO and his staff will be improved over the new contract period, including how transparency and accountability will be restored. Handwaving doesn’t cut it.