JUNGLE DRUM: Future CEO appointment key to flourishing Douglas Shire - get it right!
LAWRENCE MASON COLUMN
To the south Cairns Mayor Amy Eden is getting a fair bit of coverage. It is no secret that former CEO of Cairns Regional Council (CRC) John Andrejic is a friend and a supporter or hers and there seems to be a bit of disagreement around what was said in a certain pre-election meeting.
Andrejic has been appointed interim CEO, and it seems likely he will get the nod to rejoin CRC on a permanent basis. I am not suggesting he was a bad CEO in the past, but he certainly did not gel with former Mayor Manning.
What has this got to do with Douglas you ask? Why would Jungle Drum be interested? Well our (Douglas Shire) CEO (Rachel Brophy) leaves on July 9 and no doubt our Council is also looking for a new one.
And it is timely to remind ourselves how local government works, and why the right CEO is important. The reality is the CEO and senior staff run Councils, and while the Mayor has some power, the ‘face’ of Council that we see most is the decisions and the organisational culture set by the CEO and their senior staff.
I have long felt that CEOs and senior managers should also stand for election. There is no question that many CEOs would not be re-elected if this was the case.
I also think the attitudes of CEOs would be very different if they were answerable to voters.
I don’t believe that either (former CRC CEO) Mica Martin or Rachel Brophy (DSC) would have been re-elected based on their performance, last March.
So while (insinuated by the papers) Mayor Eden is sailing close to the wind regarding her connections to Andrejic, I think she is being very clever in selecting a CEO who is not only a friend, but someone who shares her ideals and her idea of workplace culture.
With so much power invested in the CEO, it is imperative that for a Mayor to be successful, that they have a CEO invested in their ideals. Mayor Eden appears to have achieved this, albeit at some risk to herself.
Douglas Shire Mayor Lisa Scomazzon was elected in part because she promised transparency, better communication, and connectivity between Council and ratepayers.
The last term of Douglas Shire Council was not noted for any of this, something that became an issue recently.
One would hope that in the process of finding a new CEO, that ALL information about the candidate’s past, and track record are available to Council.
The last thing DSC needs is someone else’s ‘Chocolate Teapot’, sent to us with good references to move them on. It’s not unknown for this to occur.
I am imploring Douglas Shire Councillors to take all the time they need, to find the right person to move Douglas forward. Someone who can respond to a resident enquiry without using the ‘bureaucratic say nothing with lots of words template’.
Someone who is honest about every situation. Someone who values resident opinions and input. Someone who loves and LIVES IN the shire. Someone who was farewelled with sorrow by their previous employer. Hire the wrong one at your peril.
*Lawrence Mason has lived at Cape Tribulation all his life, and has been involved in farming, timber and tourism. He is a former board member of Tourism Port Douglas Daintree, founding Chair of Daintree Marketing Co-operative, and has been a member of both Alexandra Bay and Mossman State High School P&C. He is also a member of the Douglas Chamber of Commerce and has a keen interest in local issues.
- The comments, opinions and thoughts in this column are of the author and author only and do not represent those of the Newsport editor or staff.
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