With the delay of the Local Government Elections until December, Dubbo Mayor Stephen Lawrence has tabled a Mayoral Minute at an Extraordinary Meeting of Council to commence the recruitment of a permanent CEO for Dubbo Regional Council (DRC).
Councillor Lawrence said the delay of the elections meant the recruitment process would begin on Friday 13 August, with the process to be finalised before caretaker mode commences on 4 November.
“In light of the deferral of Council elections, we feel it is now appropriate to commence the recruitment process for the CEO’s role. This will guarantee stability and continuity for the organisation going into the new term of Council,” said Mayor Lawrence.
“The Office of Local Government has guidelines in place for the appointment and oversight of General Managers (CEO). These guidelines state the Councillors delegate the task of recruitment to a selection panel and approve the recruitment process. The selection panel usually consists of the Mayor, Deputy Mayor, Councillor Jane Diffey and a suitably qualified independent of the Council,” he said.
“We are proceeding with this recruitment process to ensure DRC has a new CEO within the 12 month time period Council initially adopted when it brought Murray Wood (pictured, main photo) on board as the interim CEO in June.”
He said the prospect of Mr Wood applying for the role meant he had been removed from the recruitment process. The entire process will be managed by Local Government Management Solutions.
“I must commend the staff who work at Council for their hard work over recent months; they have managed to continue delivering vital services for the community, and have kept up the pace despite a number of changes to leadership,” said Mayor Lawrence.
With the resignation of Dayne Gumley and the extension of the term, Council has also elected chairs for its standing committees. Councillor Kevin Parker will be the new chair of the Development and Environment Committee and Councillor Jane Diffey will chair the Infrastructure and Liveability Committee and the Culture, Economy and Corporate Committee for the remainder of the Council term.
“I also tabled a Mayoral Minute to change Councillor involvement in Advisory Panels. The role of Councillors is more strategic in nature, compared to the operational roles and responsibilities of the CEO and Council staff,” said Mayor Lawrence.
“As such, council adopted recommendations that the Dubbo Regional Airport Panel be abolished, and replaced by appropriate organisational arrangements. Council also asked for advice from the CEO about councillor representation on the Dubbo Regional Livestock Markets Technical Advisory Panel, and other similar panels and committees run by Council.”
