Million dollar question on CEO axing remains unanswered

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.

If it isn’t such a huge cost, why is it secret? Ballarat City Council dumped its CEO in May – after a damning Ombudsman’s report – and the payout was in the local paper by the following Friday.

This time last year, these same four councillors voted for a rate rise of 4.5% – almost double the cap.

We were told this massive jump was essential to raise $700,000 extra to pay for bridges and footpaths and all of the crumbling infrastructure that had not been properly maintained under their watch (all ‘inherited’ according to Cr Neoh, who has since told us not to look at the past.)

Every cent of that rate rise will now go toward paying for their treachery.

Thankyou very much Crs Owen, Gaston, Neoh and Cassidy.

These councillors have clearly lost touch with the average ratepayer who they claim to represent and that, to me, is the greatest travesty.

We – and I am among those who have watched my rates go up and up – are just pawns in a power game. A game that was cooked up many months ago.

The acting CEO Vikki King didn’t suddenly get a tap on her door last week from Cr Gaston, or Cr Neoh, or whoever was given that exciting task, to see if she was free for the next 12 months.

How convenient that the acting CEO was slotted into the $340,000 a year role without it being advertised, or offered to any of the other senior managers who might have been interested.

It might be legal, but is it ethical?

Speaking of ethics, I am yet to see one shred of evidence as to why the CEO had to be knifed without so much as a final warning.

If the council gets out of this without a legal battle of some description, especially given the CEO’s professional reputation is now in tatters, I will be amazed – and grateful, that this attack in the night will not leave us carrying an even greater financial burden.

This story is far from over.

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Barry the Boolshite detector on why the CEO had to go

While you may understandably be feeling some concern, we’d like to remind you that every large organisation, whether government or private, must occasionally, in the best interest of that organisation, go through such a process.

We like to sound patronising and caring as we move into election mode. 

You have elected us to make the right decisions for this community.

We make the decisions and then tell you about them later, and this time we have put a gag in place, just for extra comfort.

Sadly some recent choices have not worked out and now we are attempting to correct that situation, prior to the next council term.

We %$%ed up the appointment process, we signed off on all the performance reviews, and now we are trying to cover our asses before the next election. (Barry, tone down the language.)

These results were extremely concerning given that ‘staff culture’ and ‘community engagement’ was asked to be elevated as key organisational priorities and risks.

See above.

It has also been baffling as to why one of our most successful engagement strategies, the Warrnambool City Council 2040 Plan, has seen the operational implementation of the plan both neglected and stripped of resources after being given contrary assurances at the highest level.

The CEO was so busy getting rid of the bullies and sorting out the mess he inherited, that he didn’t focus enough on the 2040 plan. That is baffling, and sackable! 

Having engaged with thousands of community members and almost 100 supporting organisations in developing the plan, it’s disturbing that councillor’s continual requests for appropriate operational support has fallen on deaf ears.

He had 17 months to get the Titanic in order, what more does he want?

This is just not acceptable.

Having someone milk our credit cards? Shrug. Spending $40,000 on renovations to a council-owned apartment where the former CEO’s executive assistant lived for 30 years without a written lease? Yawn. Watching Flagstaff Hill bleed us dry while we raise rates to double the cap? Boring! Not getting that 2040 Plan up and running? Now you’re talking! Unacceptable!

Councillors have developed a plan with you, the community, and we made a pledge to you that we are committed to it being resourced and implemented.

There are lots of other plans we have developed too, and done nothing about – they sit on shelves – but this one! This is the one! You want it, you got it!

We are confident that the acting CEO will reinforce our values, particularly with staff, and pursue Warrnambool’s interests with passion and represent us well with external stakeholders.

We know this, because we had her lined up from day one of this coup plan. Pity we didn’t hire her in the first place and saved you all a lot of money.

Whilst there may be diverse views in the community and among councillors, potentially the one thing that will hold the city back is obsessively dwelling on the past and using the past as an excuse.

This has worked for others, so we thought we might try it too. Forget the past! And especially forget the parts where we might have aided and abetted a certain culture while the council slowly fell apart financially, in community trust and in staff morale. Move on, people!

We believe that our decision, as difficult as it has been, is in the very best interest of our community.

And that’s why we did it without telling you anything.

To convey a clear plan and pathway forward, for you the community, we have put in place a time- line that will see the newly-elected council undertake a recruitment process post council election which is scheduled for October 2020.

We are already telling the next council what to do. This is how we roll.

Now that the decision has been made, we expect the Mayor and all councillors to move forward and continue to focus on the aspirations and needs of the community for the remainder of the current council term.

Sorry, this is too much even for Barry. He has passed out.

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Cr Sycopoulis warns agains “misdirected and unlawful coup”

Warrnambool City Councillor Peter Sycopoulis: he returned to council this year in a count back. Image: Supplied.

Carol Altmann – The Terrier

Update: Warrnambool City Councillor Peter Sycopoulis has come out punching against moves to dismiss the CEO, saying the last thing the city needs now is a “misdirected and unlawful coup”.

Bam! Right between the eyes with that one!

Cr Sycopoulis sent a lengthy reply last night to my question to all councillors – do you support the CEO Peter Schneider? – but it was too late in the evening to publish, so I am running it now.

As we now know, Crs Neoh, Gaston, Owen and Cassidy are moving behind the scenes to get rid of the CEO, who has been in the job 17 months. He replaced Bruce Anson who had been in the job 11 years.

This is what Cr Sycopoulis had to say ahead of Monday’s “special meeting” where the CEO’s future will be discussed in confidence:

“I would have to say that I express my support to Peter Schneider in his efforts as our Chief Executive.

To this point I have seen no reason to question Peter’s performance standards. Just as importantly though, I believe him to be a man of integrity and is highly principled – this goes a long way with me.

I am impressed with the manner in which he has secured extra funding for the roofing of the Southwest Livestock Exchange and an extra $400,000 towards the combined Council/TAFE Library project.

Other successes include the settlement of contractual disputes associated with a major project, implementing Council’s new environmental objectives, reviewing the organisational structure of Council, capably managing the corona virus emergency and co-operating with the Council to provide free parking for CBD areas.

Even though the public are not privy to it, he is responsible for resolving many historical issues that had not been addressed in the past.

A final point though. The last thing this city needs is a misdirected and unlawful coup.

Warrnambool ratepayers desperately deserve and need a council that is guided by integrity, strong leadership, thorough oversight and scrutiny without fear or favour.”
—
This is going to be a dirty fight. More to come on this story later today.



W’bool Mayor Herbert stays put, but council still wobbling

Warrnambool Mayor Tony Herbert has avoided the chop, despite breaking C19 laws, traffic and local bylaws.

Carol Altmann – The Terrier

Sooo, as has been reported by the ABC and The Standard earlier today, our Mayor Tony Herbert will remain Mayor, having not offered his resignation, despite his recently breaking one, two, three…no, four, laws, and taking a hit for the biggest fine, which was breaching the C19 distancing rules.

Cr Herbert was also not officially challenged to step down by Cr Sue Cassidy despite some tub thumping at the weekend.

There are no real surprises here, because:

1. the Mayor was never going to step aside (having come up with a palatable reason for his brain fade);

2. he was never going to be asked to resign (as the majority of his fellow councillors were happy to let this one slide) and;

3. his only challenger – Cr Cassidy – had two votes at best in herself and maybe Cr Robert Anderson.

 

(Crs Gaston, Neoh and Owen were never on board and Cr Sycopoulis and Cr Herbert are politically close as a part of the same faction in the Liberal Party.)

The W’bool City Council also craves at least some modicum of stability, in what are unstable and uncertain times and not just because of the C19.

As was drawn to my attention today – by a reader who runs a forensic eye over such things – there are FIVE senior management positions on the council that are either vacant or have ‘acting’ staff in the role, starting with the Manager of Governance, that reports directly to the CEO.

The head of tourism – remember him? – has seemingly not been replaced since he resigned last July.

The Manager of Community Planning and Policy, who resigned last year, is still listed as being in that role.

So is the Manager of Economic Development and Investment, who resigned in January.

As the reader pointed out, how does this affect the council’s ability to do its day-to-day business?

Well one area, I can tell you, is updating its policies, some of which are years out of date.

One example, again offered by this astute reader, is the council’s whistleblower policy, you know, that little thing that should have protected people like Dr Bernadette Northeast from speaking up about bullying within council.

The document was supposed to be updated in 2016.

The anti-corruption guidelines from IBAC posted on the WCC website are from 2013.

Jeeps. As we know, it is the small stuff that affects the big stuff. You let one thing go, then the next thing falls over, and then the next.

It’s a bit like how one coffee on the council credit card morphs into eye fillet and bottles of cab sav.

Or stuffing up the way people have to pay their pet registrations, which I hear is still causing grief for pensioners who now have to go to great lengths involving forms and Centrelink (two things that are enough to make me want to take to the couch) to prove they’re eligible for a discount.

Let’s not forget that it’s only a couple of months since Cr Mike Neoh went rogue and declared to The Standard that he had “had a gutful of raising issues and not seeing any progress.”

What this means in plain speak is that certain councillors wanted the CEO gone.

Before the C19 descended, I doubt the CEO would have survived a no confidence vote.

So the Mayor will stay on as the figurehead, but the wheels were wobbling within the council itself well before this detour.

The real work starts once the virus lifts and we have to get back out onto the highway. Strap yourselves in.



With the Mayor on thin ice, could Cr Sycopoulis pull off a “Bradbury?

Cr Peter Sycopoulis has had a dream run since rejoining the W’bool City Council in March and is now positioned to do a “Bradbury” if the mayoralty becomes vacant. Original image: Getty Images.

Carol Altmann – The Terrier

Is this our next Mayor? Could Cr Peter Sycopoulis be on the brink of doing a Bradbury?*
Since rejoining the W’bool City Council in March on the back of preferences redistributed after the resignation of Cr Peter Hulin, Cr Sycopoulis is having something of a dream run.
He was among those who argued for years to have council meetings live-streamed.
“Too hard!” they cried.
He was also among those who argued for extended free parking in the CBD.
“No way!” they cried.
Both were considered unthinkable, until the unthinkable happened with the C-19 virus. The last (special) council meeting was live-streamed, without incident, at which free parking in the CBD until the end of June was agreed to unanimously.
Cr Sycopoulis was shaking his head at the irony.
And now Cr Sycopoulis is, in my view, the only person left standing for the role of Mayor, should it become vacant in the very near future – as it should – due to the mounting pressure on Mayor Tony Herbert to step aside.
Cr Sycopoulis and I, politically, are miles apart, but I admire his community spirit and his working class roots and there is no doubt he has a deep care for Warrnambool.
Cr Sue Cassidy is champing at the bit for the role, of course, having been subjected to what Cr Herbert so eloquently described as a “c..t act” last year when she thought she had the numbers, then didn’t.
She still doesn’t, in fact with Cr Hulin’s departure, Cr Cassidy has one less.
I once thought Cr Cassidy would be a reasonable choice for the job, but having watched closely what has unfolded at Lyndoch Living – where Cr Cassidy is on the board – in response to ongoing claims of terrible bullying and intimidation against staff, and the shutting out of the community, I no longer hold that view.
Crs Mike Neoh, Kylie Gaston and Robert Anderson….recycle, recycle…
Cr David Owen would be in contention, but for health issues that are far more important, which leaves Cr Peter “Bradbury” Sycopoulis, skating past the finish line.
Who would have thought? But then nothing is unthinkable in these times and with Cr Herbert now on thin ice, Cr Sycopoulis could well be leading our city for the next six months until the election.
* Australian speed skater Steven Bradbury won an unlikely gold at the 2002 Winter Olympics after all of the other competitors fell before the finish line.