Lismore City Council resignations fire service delivery concerns for Vanessa Ekins

Council has copped almost 50 resignations from critical operational departments since Feb. Read why the local authority is begging people to work “for the love of Lismore”.

Councillor Vanessa Ekins.

A wave of departures from Lismore City Council so alarmed a councillor that she put general manager John Walker on notice to answer whether the local authority can continue to effectively serve the community.

“In light of the nearly 50 staff resignations since February this year, how will the general manager ensure council continues to deliver its core services?” Councillor Vanessa Ekins put to the Tuesday council meeting.

Mr Walker said council had lost eight staff members to “competing” government organisations.

Senior staff have been poached by better paying public sector jobs, Mr Walker said, and he has had to compete with government organisations, like Resilience NSW, that could be paying “$40,000 or $50,000” more.

Because council can’t offer competitive salaries, Mr walker said they have been appealing to people to work for council “for the love of Lismore”, with 140 applicants putting forward their names to fill vacancies in council’s workforce.

Vanessa Ekins: “We need those skilled people.”

“We are in the process of restructuring … we have a better team now than we did,” Mr Walker said.

“They are functioning more than effectively.”

Ms Ekins told the Northern Star council is responsible for critical public services and infrastructure, and questioned the practice of contracting jobs out to the private sector.

“With senior management staff in corporate services, project management, roads management, waste and water management leaving the organisation, what strategies does the general manager have in place to enable council to function effectively?” she asked.

“If they keep leaving, I’m really worried that we won’t be able to perform our functions – and we can’t outsource that stuff.

“We’re the biggest investor – something like $150 million a year – we invest in our local economy, and we’re a major employer, so council has a really important function.”