Inside story: Final months in downfall of top Gold Coast bureaucrat, CEO Dale Dickson
Councillors in late July last year decided to go to market for the Gold Coast’s top job. CEO Dale Dickson was in for the career fight of his life. How did he lose?
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IN late July last year Gold Coast councillors decided to go to market for the city’s top job. CEO Dale Dickson was in for the career fight of his life. How did he lose?
The unanimous vote of councillors was that “the process of appointment of the CEO officer be managed by the office of the Mayor”.
Mr Dickson found this out by email. First warning sign, really. In the past, councillors agreed his contract should be rolled over, Mayor Tom Tate negotiating the new KPIs.
About 80 “high-calibre” professionals applied. Consultants and a panel including former Brisbane mayor Jim Soorley and ex-premier Rob Borbidge sorted through the CVs.
A final five presented to council in a closed chamber at Evandale on Monday. The Mayor and councillors made the final decision. Queensland tourism bureaucrat David Edwards was always Mr Dickson’s greatest threat.
An experienced political insider, watching from outside council, told your columnist: “Like all politicians, he’s run out of time. Dale’s not stupid. The fact they unanimously went out to market would have told him he was in a lot of trouble.”
In the winter of last year staffers speculated about whether their boss, given his 18-year legacy including the 2018 Commonwealth Games, would fight for his job. Months later, it emerged the former Brisbane Bears footballer wanted to kick a few more goals.
Just a month ago the Bulletin reported the Mayor’s media adviser, Warwick Sinclair, had complained to the state’s corruption watchdog about Mr Dickson.
The bombshell allegations included that Mr Dickson had misused his authority to target Mr Sinclair and delayed the start of his job, causing financial loss.
Think about the timing of these allegations. City Hall keeps most of its dirty washing private. Second warning sign that Mr Dickson had lost support among “the leadership group”.
The third and final shot occurred at full council last Tuesday when a “confidential staffing matter” was discussed. It became uncomfortable in the brief open session.
Councillor Hermann Vorster made a conflict-of-interest declaration in which he referred to Mr Sinclair having made a complaint to the Crime and Corruption Commission about Mr Dickson. The CEO quietly excused himself from the room.
By week’s end Mr Dickson had been cleared by the CCC of all allegations.
Yet on Monday, still cleaning his wounds, he had to be fresh to present with rival candidates.
Mr Sinclair and Mr Dickson had once worked closely together, a lot of respect between them. Two key men at City Hall who now could no longer sit together comfortably in a room.
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Several sources suggest that before Monday’s presentations Mr Dickson was still a strong contender. He had the CV and track record, and a fumble by an opponent would see him win.
But if the opponent presented well, a majority of votes could be swayed. Sources also suggest that among “the leadership group” the move was for change. The vote was a “super majority”, 14-1, for Mr Edwards.
For Dale Dickson, the slight former AFL footballer who copped more than his fair share of on-field knocks, a stickler for governance in his professional work – the siren had sounded, he had finally run out of political time and lost this final fight.
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