PORT Macquarie-Hastings Council has a new general manager – but he’s far from new to the role.
The council resolved last week to appoint current acting general manager Craig Swift-McNair to the position.
The decision was made following an extraordinary council meeting last Thursday at which all councillors unanimously agreeing on the preferred candidate.
The council began the recruitment process to fill the vacancy on 5 May.
Twenty six applications were received by the 37 May closing date and from these four candidates were shortlisted.
Interviews were then conducted by the selection panel of Mayor Peter Besseling, Deputy Mayor Adam Roberts, and councillors Justin Levido and Lisa Intemann.
Mr Swift-McNair had been acting in the role of general manager for four months and prior to this was the council’s director of Commercial Services and Industry Engagement.
Announcing the appointment, councillor Besseling said the council’s future now had great promise and the councillors were confident that Mr Swift-McNair could lead the organisation to serve the community’s needs and realise the region’s potential.
“Councillors were seeking the best mixture of commercial experience with local government knowledge,” Cr Besseling said.
“Mr Swift-McNair has a proactive attitude and the ability to lead by example, I’m confident he will promote this attitude throughout the whole organisation.”
Deputy Mayor Adam Roberts echoed Cr Besseling’s sentiment and believed the appointment of Mr Swift-McNair was made on merit.
“The recruitment process was a transparent one and consistent with the relevant legislation,” Cr Roberts said.
“In my view Mr Swift-McNair has a clear mandate to ensure his staff delivers positive outcomes for this community.”
