MEDIA RELEASE
Monday, 7th of April, 2003
Greens: Council Ignorant Of Director General's Guidelines For Finding A New General Manager
The Greens have criticised Randwick Council for not following proper process in its' on going struggle to find a new General Manager.
Councillor Judy Greenwood is reporting the problems to the Equal Employment Opportunity Board.
She states that the Council's recruitment process should have followed the government document "Director General's Practice Note 5: Selection of General Managers."
The Note states that a report has to be prepared outlining how well each candidate meets the various selection criteria and the composition of the job selection committee.
The Greens claim that no such report has yet been prepared for the Councillors to examine.
In addition, they are concerned that there are no women on the selection committee even thought the Director General's Practice Note states that there should be.
Cr Greenwood has said,
"Council has clearly contravened the rules, but the Mayor and Deputy Mayor are denying that the Director General's guidelines apply to Randwick's situation."
It is unclear yet as to how Randwick Council will move on from here although it was resolved after a recent crisis meeting that,
"...the current General Manager be retained under his present conditions of contract for a mutually agreed period."
The Greens are alleging that the unorthodox selection process reflects a desire by the Labor Party to fill the GM's job with a candidate that it is personally comfortable with.
Cr Greenwood said,
"I am appalled at the Mayor and Deputy Mayor's disregard for process. The Labor Party controls a majority of the seats on the Council and so must be held accountable for the improper way the job selection process has been conducted. They are ignoring the Director General's guidelines on how the new GM should be recruited."
Cr Greenwood has lodged a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Board.
Notes.