Onkaparinga Council chief executive Mark Dowd pays back golf fees, says overhaul on staff credit cards is coming

EMBATTLED Onkaparinga Council chief executive Mark Dowd has paid back his ratepayer-funded golf club membership in full — and has foreshadowed an overhaul of staff credit card spending — in the wake of a fresh protest by residents.

Onkaparinga CEO Mark Dowd on a private golfing trip to Augusta in 2015.

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EMBATTLED Onkaparinga Council chief executive Mark Dowd has paid back his ratepayer-funded golf club membership in full — and has foreshadowed an overhaul of staff credit card spending — in the wake of a fresh protest by residents.

Mr Dowd this week decided to pay back his $6818 Kooyonga Golf Club joining fee to the council in full — rather than in instalments under a secret arrangement.

He also said the council had “listened to the community” and was working on new guidelines to provide “greater control” on council staff credit card spending.

The guidelines would ensure “appropriate spending” in several categories, such as accommodation, flowers, gifts and hospitality, he said.

Onkaparinga Mayor Lorraine Rosenberg

It ends a year of public scrutiny over the council’s decision for pay for Mr Dowd’s golf club membership, which was part of a strategy to attract Chinese investment to Adelaide’s south.

Mr Dowd made no reference to ratepayers when explaining his decision to repay the money in full.

“The constant attention has had a detrimental impact on council and its entire staff,” Mr Dowd said.

“This is an unnecessary consequence and therefore the establishment fee has been repaid in full.”

Mr Dowd also explained the need for his council-funded Apple watch, describing it as a “business tool” that aim to “improve decision-making processes”.

He said the council was looking to cut its number of credit cards from 152 to 72, and expected a report on new spending guidelines to be released within a month

“All purchases made were within council’s guidelines, however, I recognise a small number of the purchases should not have been made and for this I apologise to our ratepayers,” he said.

Residents were planning a protest at Tuesday night’s council meeting to call for greater transparency on council spending.

Before the meeting, Cr Don Chapman, who pushed the council to release its credit card statements in December last year, said it was “about time” Mr Dowd revealed the membership repayment.

“Why couldn’t he do this in the first place … especially when you are on such a large salary,” Cr Chapman said.

Mayor Lorraine Rosenberg refused to answer the Southern Times Messenger’s questions about the repayment.

“I have been given the advice it would not be appropriate for me to comment until after this matter has been dealt with in detail by the chamber,” she said.

The full Q&A with Mark Dowd

Onkaparinga Council chief executive Mark Dowd responds to questions about the council’s transparency and spending.

Can you assure ratepayers that all spending on council staff credit cards, as recently highlighted in media reports, is justified and of benefit to ratepayers.

Yes. All purchases made were within council’s guidelines however I recognise a small number of the purchases should not have been made and for this I apologise to our ratepayers.

Corporate purchase cards are a part of doing business and we’ll need to continue to use them. We’re revisiting our guidelines and controls and I’ll tighten up how cards are used.

Are there any instances of council staff spending that you are concerned about? If so, provide detail.

As stated above, all expenditure was within guidelines but we’ve listened to the community and we’re introducing greater control to ensure appropriate spending in several categories. These include accommodation, flowers and gifts, meals and hospitality. Corporate hospitality guidelines will define the nature and type of expenditure that is acceptable and we’ll also review our use of hire cars and accommodation.

How has the council benefited from you having an Apple watch?

I understand that our ratepayers were concerned by this purchase. The watch was purchased to be tested as an additional business tool as part of a new software system to be deployed across the organisation. The software utilises a range of smart devices keeping us connected to the office no matter where we are. The intent of embracing all new technology and equipment is to streamline council processes, improve decision-making processes and make approvals faster. Like all IT equipment purchased, it remains the property of the organisation.

Do you think it is fair that ratepayers pay for council staff to do the roof climb at Adelaide Oval?

The Skywalk cost $1631.00 and was for 25 staff. It was done during a strategic planning day held off site at Adelaide Oval. As part of the strategic planning day we received a presentation from the Stadium Management Authority on resilience and business planning and spent the rest of the day discussing organisational objectives for each section for the coming year, budgets and areas for improvement and better collaboration. The walk was the final component of our strategic planning day. I know that when viewed on its own, this type of organisational development activity does not immediately demonstrate a link to the services we deliver, but this was part of a broader leadership development program designed specifically for that purpose. We’ll listen to the feedback we’ve received as we continue to develop this program and ensure further restraint is shown in future.

Do you support moves by elected members to have credit card statements publicly available? If so, when is a reasonable time frame for this to happen?

Yes. We need to find better ways to be more transparent about council’s spend. To begin with, there’s an opportunity to provide more detailed information through our audit committee, which is a composition of council and independent members, for deeper discussion and evaluation. This information and any recommendations would then be provided through to council and made publicly available. We’re also looking at publishing all travel and conference expenses for staff. Any changes will be outlined in our report to Council and that report will be publicly available on our website. This review is currently underway and I would expect it to be completed within the next month.

What actions has the council taken to address community concerns about council staff’s credit card spend? In what way have guidelines been changed?

We continually review and improve our guidelines. The council report will highlight a range of changes to our guidelines that have already occurred and others we will introduce. Certain types of purchases will be eliminated and others will have new guidelines to provide greater clarity on appropriate spending. We’ll also change our purchase codes so we have a better definition of each purchase. The same set of guidelines will be applicable across the organisation. We’re already putting controls in place to reduce the number of credit cards from 152 to 72. All of these changes will be outlined in the report to Council.

Do you think it is fair that ratepayers and councillors do not know the detail of the repayment plan for your establishment fee to Kooyonga Golf Club?

The decision to repay the establishment fee was a personal decision. I was not compelled to do so by the Ombudsman or the elected body. The constant attention has had a detrimental impact on council and its entire staff. This is an unnecessary consequence and therefore the establishment fee has been repaid in full.

Has the council employed a public relations firm in response to recent media coverage of the council’s spending on credit cards and if so how much is this costing?

We have not employed a PR firm to manage this issue for us. However, we did seek advice and this cost is expected to be less than $600.

In light of the fact that details of your most recent performance review remain confidential, what evidence can you share with ratepayers that justifies your recent pay rise?

The CEO Performance Management committee comprising of elected members and an independent member conducts my performance review. To inform this review a survey was conducted of all elected members, management and independents. My two most recent salary increases were both 2 per cent, which is directly aligned with the increases received by all staff as part of the Enterprise Bargaining Agreement.

Editor’s note: Onkaparinga Mayor Lorraine Rosenberg refused to answer a similar series of questions including whether she was concerned about staff spending, if credit card statements should be publicly available and whether the council had a problem with its culture.