Carol Altmann – The Terrier

Oooh Warrnambool can be a tight-knit little place and the knit between two of our biggest public institutions – Warrnambool City Council and Lyndoch Living – just got a little tighter with the unexpected elevation of Vikki King to council CEO.

While the seven councillors continue to rip each other’s heads off and try to justify why they treat the public like numbskulls (#whitenoise), I thought I would briefly turn the channel to another station and unpick at least one row in the roll-neck sweater of the Warrnambool club.

As we know, the crucial vote for Ms King being hand-picked for the top role by four of the seven councillors came from Councillor Sue Cassidy (or as someone accidentally, but prophetically, said as a spoonerism the other day, Coup Sassidy), so let’s start there.

(Needles up! Cast on…)

Cr Cassidy is a member of the Lyndoch Living board.

Cr Cassidy, owner of Unisexcuts hair salon, is close to the Lyndoch CEO Doreen Power and, together with Ms Power, is one of three directors of Lyndoch Healthcare Pty Ltd that was set up to oversee the Warrnambool Medical Clinic which was bought by Lyndoch last year.

The Warrnambool Medical Clinic is set to relocate at some point into a new, multi-million dollar “super clinic” being planned for Lyndoch.

The third director of Lyndoch Healthcare Pty Ltd is Andrew Paton. Mr Paton is the Director of City Growth – the head of planning – at the Warrnambool City Council.

He is also on the Lyndoch board.

Mr Paton is also part of the council’s Economic Development Advisory Committee, where Ms Power is one of the nine committee members.

Another Lyndoch board member is former Deakin academic and former Wannon Water deputy chair Professor Rob Wallis.

Prof Wallis is also the independent chair of the council’s Audit and Risk Committee.

Cr Cassidy also sits on that committee.

Prof Wallis, as it happens, was also until recently one of two independent people on the council’s Chief Executive Employment Matters Advisory Committee, which advised on matters to do with the CEO.

That was until last week when, according to the Standard, he resigned in the wake of the unprecedented coup against CEO Peter Schneider.

Cr Cassidy was part of that coup, which loops us right back around and up and down to the new council CEO, Ms King.

Prior to being anointed CEO, Ms King already had connections to her Lyndoch counterpart, Ms Power.

They were both members of Beyond the Bell – a local network to encourage and support children in education – around 2016-17 when the program went through a period of transition on the back of receiving significant government funding.

As a result of that transition, Brophy CEO Francis Broekman became chair.

As an aside, Mr Broekman is the husband of former Mayor and long-term councillor Jacinta Ermacora who is now chair of Wannon Water. The CEO of Wannon Water, Andrew Jeffers, is on the board of Beyond the Bell.

Up and over and around we go….knit one, pearl one….but I digress.

Ms King and Ms Power are also on the executive committee of the South West Primary Care Partnership which is a collective of health service agencies.

Ms Power is chair and Ms King is deputy chair of this network.

The partnership itself, as of last year, is now included in the financial statements of Lyndoch Living.

Some of the SWPHP members have also been involved in the transition of the Warrnambool Medical Clinic over to Lyndoch’s control and ownership.

(Needles down. Cast off…)

This little knitting exercise is not only interesting for the links between these WCC and Lyndoch – but also for where they sit in terms of public accountability.

Both Lyndoch Living and WCC are arguably in the middle of unprecedented change and will face ongoing questions from us, the public, whom they serve, about their operations, direction, expenditure and staff morale.

It will be fascinating to watch how these questions are handled in coming months, as we enter annual general report time, annual general meeting time, and council elections.

Will we see greater transparency and openness, or will the wool be once again pulled over our eyes?

If you would like to support the Terrier, you can throw something in the tip jar below. 

The Tip Jar

Carol Altmann – The Terrier

I asked a simple question of the Warrnambool City Council last Friday: could I have the CV of our new CEO?

The answer was no.

Secrecy is so ingrained in the Warrnambool City Council that ratepayers are not allowed to see the CV of the person who we will potentially* pay around $340,000 – or $26,000 a month for the next 12 months – to run our city.

*(Edit: I have added the word potentially, as this was around the mark for the former CEO, Peter Schneider. Another former CEO, Bruce Anson, received a package of $320,000 in his final year. These salaries are in line with what is offered in “Band 2” councils which include W’bool. The WCC has not disclosed the package for the new CEO.)

As we know, the council’s head of Community Development, Vikki King, was thrust into the top spot by the Four Horsemen who decided to axe Peter Schneider and replace him with the person they wanted in the job.

Given this extraordinary turn of events, I thought it logical that we, as ratepayers, should see the credentials and work history of the person we just “hired” as our chief executive.

The request was denied by Ms King herself.

Here we go again.

It’s just a few weeks since the release of the community survey which showed the people of Warrnambool have had a gill full of being treated like shiitakes, but nothing has changed and, if the past week is any guide, it’s worse.

We were not told by our councillors that the former CEO was about to be sacked, or why, and in some sort of perverse charade the councillors spent the last monthly meeting congratulating themselves many times over for their brilliance.

We also don’t know the cost of this whole set up, and because the coup conveniently happened after 30 June, that cost won’t be included in this year’s annual report.

Amidst all this darkness, it’s the terriers who have to do the digging and delving and poke holes into the walls so that the light gets in.

As I say many times over, scrutiny of our council is not about personalities, but process: when decisions are made on behalf of the public, and involve public money, we have a right to know.

So what do we know?

Well, we know Ms King has been with the council for five years as head of Community Development and, according to some of those who worked with her over that time, is known as “a straight shooter”.

As it happens, Ms King’s contract was due to end in August and who knows what that meant for Ms King’s plans or her future with the WCC?

It doesn’t matter now, because Crs Neoh, Gaston, Cassidy and Owen had Ms King pegged for a whole new post and signed her up for a full 12 months, all without asking the Mayor or the other two councillors.

They didn’t even bother to put an ad on the tearoom noticeboard: “Vacancy. Long hours. Pays well.”

Ms King told the local newspaper last week that she had no idea what was coming.

Judging by the evidence put forward so far by Mayor Tony Herbert, neither did Mr Schneider, who had passed his performance reviews and received a pay rise before being booted out the door without so much as a farewell speech and a WCC tie-pin.

Ironically, Mr Schneider’s departure is the latest in a string of senior resignations from the council these past 12 months under his watch.

Among them was head of governance Anne-Marie Neal, who reported directly to the CEO – both Bruce Anson, and then Mr Schneider – before she departed suddenly late last year without any explanation or comment by the council.

A reader alerted me to a case listed in the Magistrate’s Court for September involving a worker’s compensation claim between Ms Neal and the WCC, so perhaps the circumstances surrounding that situation will soon become clearer.

Another three senior managers have also resigned in the past six months: Manager Economic Development Shaun Miller, Facilities and Projects Manager Ben Storey and, most recently, Director City Infrastructure Scott Cavanagh.

The council itself now has more holes than Swiss cheese and the councillors have never been more divided, with many now asking the same question: how did it get this bad?

And as the Warrnambool Ratepayers Association asked at the weekend, where to from here to turn it around?

As we head toward an election on October 24 and have a chance to determine who runs our city, both behind the scenes and up front, these questions have never been more important.

If you would like to support the Terrier, you can throw something in the tip jar below. 

The Tip Jar

Carol Altmann – The Terrier

The votes are in and….drum roll…. Warrnambool City Cr Mike Neoh has won Stunt of the Year, even though it’s only July.

Cr Neoh’s bold, Superman-underpants call for the WCC staff survey results to be released was never going to happen and he knew it.

Former CEO Bruce Anson would not release them. Former CEO Peter Schneider would not release them. And guess what? (Envelope please….)

New CEO Vikki King – anointed to the post this week by Cr Neoh and three other councillors – won’t release them either!

What a stellar performance of bullshite at its best!

So here we are, none the wiser as to what evidence pressed the eject seat under former CEO Schneider on Monday night.

I asked all the councillors today whether they would press Ms King to release the results.

Only Mayor Tony Herbert replied. His reply is worth reading in full and so I am posting it below.

Our council is broken, bleeding and stinks to high heaven. More to come, in coming days.

From Mayor Herbert:

“Thanks for your question.

As stated previously, the staff survey this year as with other years, was conducted with a high level of confidentiality which I believe must be respected. Maybe the next one, if staff were informed that their results in whatever format council decides, are going to be made public and the staff are aware of this, I might support being made public.

The staff already feel they are under the community microscope with the various forms of media ready to publicise anything they do wrong. Everyone makes mistakes, but it’s becoming too public.

Myself, I have doubts about the motives behind the call for staff survey results being made public.

It’s such an operational issue and as I used to be reminded regularly about this in my early days as a new councillor.

The staff, and all their related issues are the sole responsibility of the CEO. Surely staff survey results ,whether it be detail or higher level is for the CEO to decide not individual councillors. Councillors don’t actually have the control to do whatever they wish. They have to first and foremost act within the WCC code of conduct and the Act.

Given the staff sentiment also at the moment, I would prefer the staff to feel our genuine care for them rather than further humiliating them.

There was a staff suicide last year and many of them are still dealing with that event. They need support not more public attention.

Thanks for your query, but it’s a resounding “no support” from me.”

Carol Altmann – The Terrier

Questions: Are we about to throw $1 million of ratepayers’ money down the drain because the four horsemen of the apocalypse decided to sack the WCC chief without warning?

This is the figure being floated about and because Crs Owen, Neoh, Gaston and Cassidy refuse to tell us the full cost of their night of the long knives last Monday, I am going to say it must be close to the truth.

The math makes sense: 2.5 years left on a $340,000 contract, plus paying the acting CEO another $340,000, plus legal fees, leave entitlements etc.