SACKED: Lismore council terminates GM's contract

Shelley Oldham is set to leave her $300,000 role with Lismore City Council which she has held since 2018.

General manager for Lismore City Council, Shelley Oldham, pictured when she was new to the role, with then mayor Isaac Smith.

UPDATE: 

New Lismore mayor Cr Vanessa Ekins has announced the termination of general manager Shelley Oldham's contract.

The decision unfolded during a confidential session following the council's February meeting on Tuesday evening.

Cr Ekins said the matter of urgency covered the termination process and how council will put in place a caretaker general manager for 12 months.

Ms Oldham this morning stated she had resigned from the role. 

> 

>

> 

> 

The matter of urgency called for her contract to be terminated "with effect on and from the passing of (the) resolution on February 9". 

According to the motion, the new mayor Vanessa Ekins is to instruct the relevant staff to "process the termination payments" Ms Oldham is entitled to under her contact.

Cr Ekins is to "implement the steps in the confidential advice from LGNSW in regards to the termination".

The council voted to appoint Michael Donnelly as acting general manager "until the council appoints a new general manager or until a further decision of the council to appoint a different acting general manager". 

Also included in the motion was a decision to launch action to undertake the recruitment process for an interim general manager.

The appointment would be for "no longer than 12 months", with the new council elected in September this year to "initiate the process of recruiting a new general manager". 

 

Initial report: 

Lismore City Council general manager Shelley Oldham has resigned.

This morning Ms Oldham confirmed in an exclusive interview she is leaving the role, which she has held since 2018.

"I have resigned," Ms Oldham said.

"I was asked to leave under the no fault clause provision of the senior executive contract of general managers in NSW."

In her first interview in 2018 Ms Oldham said she was excited to be in the role as she believed in the city and region.

Lismore City Council GM Shelley Oldham.

"I took the job because I believe Lismore is a fantastic place just waiting to go off," she said at the time.

"Working here … you get the biggest intellectual challenges to solve complex problems, you have really diverse stakeholders, where the only way to get things done is through consensus.

"It's not like a corporation where you can bowl in and make changes.

"You have to get the community on board with the budget and their service expectations and get politicians to agree."

Originally published as SACKED: Lismore council terminates GM's contract