Townsville City Council’s interim CEO breaks silence after Mayor Troy Thompson’s misconduct allegations

Townsville City Council’s Acting CEO has broken his silence after the mayor called for his resignation, fiercely denying allegations of leaking confidential information and misleading the public.

Townsville City Council meeting September 4, 2024. Acting CEO Joe McCabe. Picture: Evan Morgan

UPDATE: Townsville City Council’s Acting CEO Joe McCabe has broken his silence after Mayor Troy Thompson called for his resignation, fiercely denying allegations of leaking confidential information and misleading the public.

In a strongly worded statement released on Thursday, Mr McCabe rejected the Mayor’s accusations and urged Cr Thompson to provide any evidence to the Council investigator or the Crime and Corruption Commission (CCC).

“I know that there is absolutely no such evidence,” Mr McCabe said.

He also denied the allegation that he had misled the public regarding his intentions in the recruitment process for the permanent CEO position.

“I also refute the Mayor’s allegation that I misled the public in my response to a journalist’s question relating to the CEO recruitment,” he said.

“This is a confidential process on which I haven’t, and won’t be, making any comments.”

Townsville City Council meeting September 4, 2024. Mayor Troy Thompson. Picture: Evan Morgan

The acting CEO emphasised his longstanding career in local government, noting his 40-plus years of experience working with numerous mayors and councillors across his career.

“Since my appointment as a director at Gold Coast City Council at 27 years of age, I have worked with approximately 10 mayors and probably close to one hundred councillors,” Mr McCabe said.

“I can state categorically that I have not had a negative relationship with any mayor or any councillor, until now.

“For the past almost four months, as acting CEO, I have worked constructively and diligently with the Council and staff for the good of this beautiful city. I am committed to remain in the position for as long as the Council determines appropriate,” McCabe concluded.

Townsville City Council meeting September 4, 2024. Picture: Evan Morgan

This public clash follows a social media post from Mayor Thompson, where he accused Mr McCabe of lying to the media about whether he was pursuing the permanent CEO role.

The Mayor also pointed fingers at McCabe for leaking internal communications during Thompson’s time as mayor, further escalating tensions between the two officials.

EARLIER: Councillors have jumped to the defence of Townsville City Council’s acting chief executive Joe McCabe, the subject of a verbal spray by Mayor Troy Thompson, with the mayor accusing the interim council boss of misconduct.

Mr Thompson claimed that Mr McCabe had been a candidate for the permanent CEO role, which had been discussed within confidential business during the ongoing recruitment process, but that the acting CEO had misrepresented his intentions to the media.

In a lengthy social media post, Mr Thompson claimed Mr McCabe had “lied” to the media about whether or not he was pursuing the permanent role and blamed him for leaks concerning internal communications during Mr Thompson’s time as mayor.

“This could be seen as misconduct, and I’ll be asking council solicitors to report this to the CCC immediately,” Mr Thompson said.

The relationship between Mr Thompson and Mr McCabe has increasingly become more dysfunctional, as internal council documents showed the mayor had attempted legal action and $100,000 in compensation against the council, and its ratepayers, due to discrimination targeting his epilepsy.

Townsville City Council’s Interim CEO Joe McCabe. Picture: Evan Morgan

But this tension became more obvious in a social media rant by Mr Thompson on Monday, who seemed to blame everybody else but himself for the internal council relationships turning sour.

The mayor claimed further transparency was needed and blamed councillors for using the acting CEO to undermine him.

Councillors would not confirm if Mr McCabe was short-listed in the recruitment process because it would breach confidentiality.

But Division 3 councillor Ann-Maree Greaney endorsed the interim CEO’s performance since he took the role left vacant by Prins Ralston, who resigned two days after the council was sworn in April.

She said he had brought long-term local government experience while also having a “moral compass”.

“We’ll just have to work through the recruitment process to see who is the best, but as far as I’m concerned he’s doing a great job at the moment,” Ms Greaney said, when asked if she would like to see Mr McCabe in the permanent role.

“He certainly doesn’t get flustered about things, I think he’s probably seen it all.

“He can provide advice at the drop of a hat.”

Townsville Mayor Troy Thompson has blasted the performance of his interim-CEO Joe McCabe. Picture: Evan Morgan

Division 10 councillor Brady Ellis was angered that confidentiality may have been breached by the mayor over Mr McCabe’s job application.

“Whether he was or he wasn’t, I would never breach someone’s personal confidentiality like that,” Mr Ellis said.

“Before he started, I had no idea who the bloke was, I never heard of him.

“All I know is in his time here, the amount of good work that he has done, despite the challenges that have been put up by certain individuals.

“He’s exactly what we needed.

“He’s a switched on intelligent bloke that just wants to get the job done and has a lot of experience.”

Division 2 councillor Brodie Phillips said all the councillors, except one, appeared to be satisfied with the acting CEO’s performance, and that the council was operating effectively despite the tensions between Mr McCabe and Mr Thompson.

“The CEO is responsible for ensuring the operational arm of council is performing the way it should,” he said.

“And in my view that’s still happening, it is business as usual for the council, despite other matters that are happening.

“The remaining 10 of us councillors, we are working collectively, everyone is participating in all of our workshops … we’re looking as we move forward to the rest of the year, looking forward to that next budget delivery.”

Division 6 councillor Suzy Batkovic said “I have found him to be honest, transparent and has many decades of experience in local government”.

Acting CEO Joe McCabe declined to comment.

Originally published as Townsville City Council’s interim CEO breaks silence after Mayor Troy Thompson’s misconduct allegations