Off the Record: Rumour mill in overdrive over contenders for Adelaide City Council’s top role

This week in Off the Record, a former councillor and a former lord mayor address rumours they want to become Adelaide City Council’s new chief executive.

Former Adelaide City councillor Houssam Abiad has ruled out returning from Saudi Arabia.

Too many chiefs

The position isn’t even open for applications yet and already the Adelaide rumour mill is spinning itself into a frenzy of misinformation about who will throw their hat in the ring for the top job at Adelaide City Council.

The first hot tip this week, soon doused with a bucket of cold water all the way from Saudi Arabia, was that former councillor Houssam Abiad was interested in either having a tilt at the CEO position or would be coming back to stand for the seat vacated by new Greens MLC Robert Simms.

Or as the cute youngster in that tacos ad says, “Why not both?”

Houssam Abiad, Robert Simms (centre rear) before he quit Adelaide City Council to move to Saudi Arabia.

While the rumour was definitely getting legs early in the week, with councillor Anne Moran saying she had heard it, Lord Mayor Sandy Verschoor said it was news to her, and Team Adelaide faction members Alexander Hyde and Deputy Lord Mayor Mary Couros also said it hadn’t been raised with them by Mr Abiad.

And that’s because, in his own words, it’s not true!

All the way from Mecca, Saudi Arabia, via the magic of internet communications, Mr Abiad said he had no interest in either position.

“I am committed to my current employment … and I will not be contemplating a return to Adelaide at all at this stage,’’ he said.

Mr Abiad is currently a senior advisor “responsible for the city management” of Mecca, which you’d assume would keep you pretty busy.

Former lord mayor and Business SA chief executive Martin Haese says he has no plans to become the new Adelaide City Council chief executive.

Another busy fellow who we lament to say – at least in terms of what it will do for rumour-mongering in this town – is out of the running is former Lord Mayor and current Business SA chief executive Martin Haese.

Mr Haese seemed somewhat bemused by the notion when it was put to him by Off The Record, but the rumour is certainly doing the rounds that he could put his hand up.

The mystery is, where are these rumours all starting?

Backing a winner

The smart money on who will succeed former Adelaide City Council chief executive Mark Goldstone is going on long-serving senior manager Clare Mockler, who has been running the show since he went on sick leave in January.

With ill health resulting in Mr Goldstone’s resignation last month, the strong fancy among most councillors to replace him is Ms Mockler, who is close to clocking up two decades working at Adelaide Town Hall.

Several councillors are hoping Clare Mockler applies to become the new Adelaide City Council chief executive. Picture: Brenton Edwards

The expat Brit and deputy chief executive has spent the past six months assembling a new management team, with the latest recruits being SAMHRI chief operating officer Amanda McIlroy, former Playford Council finance manager Grace Pelle and Salisbury Council governance manager Mick Petrovski, who is returning to King William Street after a 20-year absence.

One of Ms Mockler’s priorities has been tackling the council’s parlous financial state, made worse by falling revenue from the pandemic’s impact on the central business district. She has impressed elected members with her acumen and corporate knowledge.

The chief executive position, which pays around $380,000 a year, will be advertised shortly, with a selection panel of Lord Mayor Sandy Verschoor, Deputy Lord Mayor Mary Couros, councillors Helen Donovan and Franz Knoll and former Tourism SA Boss Bill Spurr getting ready to interview applicants.

On the move

Also getting ready to call for applications for a new chief executive is the Local Government Association, the peak body representing the state’s 68 councils.

LGA chief executive Matt Pinnegar is moving interstate. Picture: Supplied

Former Labor government advisor and BP external relations manager Matt Pinnegar is leaving after five years to become the new chief executive of the Australian Local Government Association in Canberra.

Welcoming the former chief of staff to state government ministers Patrick Conlon and Rory McEwen to the role, ALGA president Linda Scott said Pinnegar brought a wealth of experience.

“I cannot think of anyone better qualified than Matt to led ALGA as its embarks on its own period of growth and change,” she told members this week.

The Liberal Party will choose the candidate to replace Boothby MP Nicolle Flint this weekend.

Words as weapons, sharper than knives

The Liberal battle for Boothby – the state’s only marginal federal seat – will be waged this Saturday, when the party’s candidate is decided in a preselection ballot.

Education sector executive Leah Blyth, one of three candidates, has obtained crucial endorsements from outgoing Boothby MP Nicolle Flint and the only other federal SA Liberal woman, Cabinet minister Anne Ruston. Blyth is the Right faction’s preferred candidate, of which Flint is a key member.

Flint’s letter of endorsement, however, has enraged the rival Moderate faction, who prefer health consultant and Rhodes scholar Dr Rachel Swift. The other candidate is police officer Shaun Osborn.

Boothby preselection candidate Leah Blyth.

Boothby preselection candidate Dr Rachel Swift

Boothby preselection candidate Shaun Osborn.

In her letter, Flint argues all are strong candidates and declares: “I believe we can find a place for each one of them: Leah Blyth in Boothby, Rachel Swift in the Senate (where she is already preselected) and Shaun Osborn in federal Adelaide, where he ran last election.”

Sounds quite magnanimous. But, as the enraged Moderates point out, Swift holds the unwinnable fourth spot on the Senate ballot and Adelaide is a safe Labor seat, held by Steve Georganas with a margin of 8.3 per cent.

However, Right members have been upset by what they argue is Swift’s reluctance to declare she has been preselected for the Senate, including in her final email which contains an endorsement from SA’s most senior federal Liberal, Finance Minister Simon Birmingham. Swift also has the support of other high-profile Liberal figures including state Treasurer Rob Lucas and Health Minister Stephen Wade.

One of the two women is expected to win in a close race.