Carol Altmann – The Terrier

It’s 200 days since the plug was pulled on Lyndoch Living CEO Doreen Power and we still don’t know if Ms Power remains on the payroll, remains “on leave”, or why she disappeared so rapidly in the first place.

Ms Power’s position within Lyndoch is one of many, many unanswered questions that still hang over our community owned aged care home and which we will continue to pursue – one by one – until we have all the answers.

We will continue to pursue these answers because we have a right to know, particularly when – under the direction of Ms Power and a complicit board – Lyndoch has suffered its greatest crisis since it was started by the community more than 60 years ago.

This crisis has touched every corner of Lyndoch, from the care of elderly and vulnerable residents and retirees, to the care and wellbeing of the staff, to its financial viability, and its reputation.

So many people have been left traumatised.

It’s a long, slow road back and we all want to see Lyndoch survive and succeed, but that doesn’t include giving a free pass to those who sat at the top and steered Lyndoch into the iceberg.

The focus now is on accountability and demanding full and truthful information.

So let’s start at the top.

Ms Power, for all intents and purposes, is a public servant.

I am reliably informed that her total salary package (salary, car, super) is around the $310,000 a year mark, so she is one of the most highly paid public servants in Warrnambool.

If Ms Power has been “on leave” for 200 days, she is still drawing on this salary package…for doing what, exactly?

As this is public money – the equivalent of around $1000 a day – we have a right to know.

It’s not good enough for Lyndoch to keep rolling out the line that Ms Power is on leave and we must respect her privacy.

The latter is not a problem, but we want to know what Ms Power is doing for her salary, is she suing Lyndoch, is she fighting to come back? Or is she actually in the Bahamas on an extended holiday? I doubt it.

I’m hoping to shed some further light on the CEO’s status later this week.

This is the beginning of my second, deep and slow dive into Lyndoch where I will follow all the breadcrumbs back, because it’s astonishing that despite all that has happened, all that has been uncovered and reported and confirmed, not one person has been held to account, accepted responsibility, or apologised to the people of Lyndoch and the wider community.

Not one.

This seems to be a worrying trend.

A Royal Commission in Brisbane into abuse within a disability service commented last week that:  “The board … has issued no public statement or statement to staff regretting the failures of the past and acknowledging responsibility. The board remains largely unchanged.”

“What seems to me to be striking … is nobody seems to have been held accountable,” Commissioner Ronald Sackville said, in a report on the ABC.

Sound familiar?

 

Carol Altmann – The Terrier

For those who missed my post stream during the final meeting of the Warrnambool City Council, here is the string of revelations regarding the dumping of the CEO:

Good god – this is getting interesting! Cr Kylie Gaston has asked a number of punchy questions to the Mayor about the whole sacking of the CEO saga.

We are now learning:

1. Nine applications during the recruitment of the previous CEO went missing. The recruitment agency had an IT problem. (I hope we got a refund from that recruitment agency).

2. The council and CEO Schneider met on 21 February to discuss issues with the CEO’s performance.

3. Crs Cassidy and Herbert went to Peter Schneider’s private house on a Sunday morning on February 23 to discuss issues that Cr Cassidy had with the CEO. Cr Herbert set up this meeting. Cr Cassidy says she now considers it was unprofessional to have this meeting at Mr Schneider’s house.

4. Cr Gaston says councillors didn’t realise what they signed up for with the CEO’s contract that would allow such a big payout of around $364,000.

5. Another big allegation – that the former CEO signed up long-term contracts of several senior managers knowing that he was leaving. I wonder who these people were? (Ms King – the new acting CEO – was not among them.)

6. Cr Sycopoulis is raising whether the CEO payout is the end of the matter or if extra legal fees may be coming, if there is legal action by Peter Schneider.

7. Cr Gaston says a performance review of the former CEO in May was not favourable and that, in effect, his sacking was not “out of the blue”.

8. It sounds like the WCC didn’t know what it signed up for with the former CEO’s contract. (Good grief). The size of the payout came as a surprise. Not good enough councillors.

9. Bring on the election – there are no winners here.