‘Chaos and instability’ returns to Town Hall amid another restructure

City of Melbourne bureaucrats are bracing for another restructure, with one insider saying “the feeling of chaos and instability” has returned to Town Hall.

City of Melbourne bureaucrats are bracing themselves for another restructure. Picture: Ian Currie

City of Melbourne bureaucrats are bracing themselves for another restructure, with one insider saying “the feeling of chaos and instability has returned” to Town Hall.

The Herald Sun understands new City of Melbourne chief executive Alison Leighton has started a restructure which will impact a range of divisions with the council – particularly finance, governance and infrastructure services.

One Town Hall insider said staff were nervous about the potential scale of the restructure and its repercussions in terms of job security.

“There’s no doubt that the feeling of chaos and instability has returned,” they said.

“The only constant is the need for change and restructures in this place.

“We have been through so much change already and now we are getting even more uncertainty.”

Senior governance executive Michael Tonta has already left the council.

A council spokeswoman refused to detail the circumstances around Mr Tonta’s departure.

It comes as the council’s general manager of property, infrastructure and design – Roger Teale – is under fire for undertaking paid work for developers with significant interests within the City of Melbourne while being paid more than $420,000 for his Town Hall role.

The Herald Sun understands Ms Leighton has started a restructure which will impact a range of divisions with the council. Picture: Nicole Garmston

Melbourne Lord Mayor Sally Capp, former head of precinct renewal Patrick Burgess and Roger Teale.

City of Melbourne chief executive Alison Leighton – who earns $535,000 each year from ratepayers – did not deny a restructure was underway but refused to detail what changes would be made and how much was expected to be spent on redundancy payments.

“It’s my responsibility to shape the organisation to ensure we continue delivering what matters most to our community,” she said.

“As the newly appointed CEO, my focus is on what’s best for our community, Council and organisation.

“While change can be unsettling, I believe we’re on the right track for success.”

Council Watch president Dean Hurlston said the City of Melbourne needed to come clean with the community about any costs associated with this latest restructure.

“We need to know the overall cost to ratepayers and the reasons why there is another restructure at Town Hall,” he said.

“We hear so often about a new CEO removing senior managers that were close to the former CEO.

“Good CEOs don’t need to bring in their own loyalists – they need to focus on doing the job for the local community.”

Mr Hurlston said the City of Melbourne should focus on partnering with other councils to improve service efficiency and reduce costs so more resources could be put into frontline services.

Lord Mayor Sally Capp has presided over a period of instability at Town Hall, with three permanent chief executives in the role since she was elected in May, 2018. She has also had four chiefs of staff during the same period.