By CAROLINE STRAINIG
THE second Port Macquarie-Hastings Council general manager in a row has bitten the dust – but it’s all upwards and onwards from here on, the mayor and other councillors say.
Councillors voted unanimously to terminate the contract of GM Tony Hayward at an extraordinary meeting on Monday afternoon, citing a need for more strategic leadership as a major factor.
The termination is effective immediately and under the provisions of the Local Government standard contract of employment between a council and general manager Mr Hayward will receive 38 weeks’ salary and other entitlements.
This is the second general manager to be dismissed, the other being Mr Hayward’s predecessor, Andrew Roach, in 2011. He also received 38 weeks’ salary and other entitlements.
Mayor Peter Besseling and councillors presented a united front at a press conference on Tuesday to elaborate on the reasons behind the termination.
Obviously limited in what they could say for privacy and legal reasons, the issues seemed to relate to communication, building relationships and a need for more strategic leadership.
Cr Besseling stressed there was no implication of any wrongdoing.
“But there was a loss of trust and confidence and clearly the situation was untenable,” Cr Besseling said.
He added the termination was the right decision and in the best interests of the broader community and council staff.
“Councillors are serious in their desire to make Port Macquarie-Hastings Council the best regional council in NSW, a goal that requires an agenda of reforms and difficult decisions,” he said.
Deputy mayor Adam Roberts made clear it would be business as normal until a new GM took over, and the decision to replace Mr Hayward was a positive move.
“This is about driving forward our reform agenda,” he said.
Recruitment for a new GM will get under way as soon as possible. In the interim, council has appointed finance director Craig Swift-McNair as acting general manager for a period of not more than 12 months.
“I have every confidence that Mr Swift-McNair can work with the councillors and staff to ensure services and functions of council are not adversely affected,” Cr Besseling said.
Mr Hayward and the previous general manager, Andrew Roach, were both hired by the administrators who took over after the then council and councillors were sacked because of the Glasshouse budget blow-out fiasco.
Cr Besseling stressed the recruitment process this time would involve all councillors and would be extremely thorough in finding the sort of general manager they were looking for.
“I have every confidence the council can find the right person for the job – one who can lead the council strategically into the future,” he said.
Asked about the large pay-out Mr Hayward received, Cr Besseling said the council had no options under the terms of the standard contract between a general manager and council. However, both he and other councillors believed standard contracts were too long and they planned to lobby for the contract to be four years, the same term as for councillors.
“This will give an incoming council the opportunity to appoint a new general manager if they want to,” he said.
Mr Hayward was positive in comments reported yesterday, praising council staff and saying he had enjoyed working with them.
Meanwhile, the previous general manager, Andrew Roach, who was dismissed in controversial circumstances in 2011, is making waves in his new job as the general manager of the Southern Downs Council in Warwick, Queensland, with that council unhappy at some of the decisions being made under delegated authority.
While many of the delegations are required by law, some councillors consider Mr Roach has too much power to act without needing council consent. For instance, the first councillors knew about a recent move to sell council-owned land was reading advertisements in the local media.
Mr Roach has said he is happy to relinquish the delegated authority, but warned that would mean the council business would stop, although he had “no problem” with that.
