Councillor Brooke Patterson says restructure saw new staff promoted with no experience

An outspoken councillor has risked stoking further tensions with council bosses with a stunning claim about recruitment which the City is rejecting.

A councillor’s claims a giant restructure of the Gold Coast second biggest workforce – its council – employed staff without a competitive HR process are being rejected.

Outspoken Southport councillor Brooke Patterson made the claims after an official complaint was lodged against her by a staffer who has since left the organisation.

Her claim and the rejection of it threatens to fuel tensions between Ms Patterson and City CEO Tim Baker, who has been required to refer staffer complaints against her to council watchdog the Office of Independent Assessor (OIA).

One of the key reasons for Mr Baker’s appointment was the restructure but sources say some senior councillors support Ms Patterson’s concerns about the knowledge loss after respected staffers were retrenched.

Ms Patterson maintains a complaint was made against her within weeks of the administration learning she intended to raise concerns about staffing appointments in her Governance Committee.

She intended to ask city managers if appointments were made in a proper, process-driven manner and what powers senior bureaucrats had to promote someone without a competitive process.

“The staffer proudly told me (a council representative) ‘tapped her on the shoulder’ to join the City of Gold Coast without a competitive HR process or even a job interview because (they) ‘knew her before’,” Ms Patterson said.

“By having the OIA complaint against me it limited my ability to raise this concern at committee in case it would have appeared as retaliation.”

A City spokesperson said: “Suggestions the city administration did not follow appropriate recruitment processes after the recent restructure are incorrect and misinformed.

Gold Coast City Council governance chair Brooke Patterson (pictured left) has been accused of potential misconduct. CEO Tim Baker (pictured right) sent her a letter warning her about her interactions with staffers. She has since raised concerns about a staffing restructure.

“Following the restructure, city administration implemented a structured and rigorous recruitment process to appoint senior staff.

“This process was conducted at arm’s length by one of Queensland’s most experienced local government recruitment agencies and involved 61 candidate assessments and 81 interviews.

“The restructure has delivered almost $5 million in annual savings for Gold Coast ratepayers by streamlining management and removing unnecessary positions.

“However, the area referenced by the councillor did not experience any reduction in resources. In fact, over the past three years, resources allocated to this area have increased.”

Mr Baker has referred complaints to the OIA about Ms Patterson who admitted in some cases she may have been rude but defended her conduct including passionately defending the concerns of residents.

Major concern for residents in Southport — a homeless camp at James Overell Park in Southport which took council six months to remove.

Her explanations in one instance included residents’ claims about council failing to act after they experienced violence and abuse from drug-fuelled vagrants at a top river park.

Residents in emails have outlined shocking safety concerns after being threatened by vagrants at an elite park where they say council staffers failed to respond across six months.

Ms Patterson on a Facebook video blamed the City’s failure to respond on cutbacks to key staffers dealing with the homeless crisis.

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Originally published as Councillor Brooke Patterson says restructure saw new staff promoted with no experience