City of Melbourne chief executive Ben Rimmer to quit job in December
MELBOURNE Council will search for a new chief executive after Ben Rimmer announced he is quitting Town Hall and revealed the reason he decided to walk away from the city’s top job.
VIC News
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CITY of Melbourne chief executive Ben Rimmer is to quit after four years in the role.
Mr Rimmer, 46, will depart in December after telling councillors that he would not seek reappointment to the $460,000-a-year Town Hall role.
However, it is unlikely that he would have won approval to stay on even if he wanted to.
He told a closed session of a city council meeting last night of the decision.
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Mr Rimmer admittted the sexual harassment probe against former Lord Mayor Robert Doyle was the key reason for him quitting.
“I have believed that a consequence of the investigation into inappropriate behaviour by Robert Doyle was that I would need to leave the organisation in order to assist councillors to move forward to normal relationships,” he said in a statement.
“I am proud of how my team and I have handled the unprecedented circumstances of the investigation, and the fairness and transparency which we brought to the process.”
Mr Rimmer said it was intolerable that he had been put in such a difficult position, and welcomed state government amendments to the Local Government Act to reduce the chance of it happening to another chief executive.
“A non-elected public servant should never be required to commission an investigation into an elected representative who is effectively their employer,” he said.
Lord Mayor Sally Capp praised Mr Rimmer for making the council “more forward looking, more delivery, cost and efficiency conscious, and significantly more diverse and flexible”.
“Council also acknowledges the extraordinary challenges navigated by the CEO during this period, both regarding the investigation over the past 9 months, and also regarding his own personal health challenges during 2016 and 2017,” she said.
Some will interpret Mr Rimmer’s departure as the council moving on after the crisis caused by the scandal which engulfed Mr Doyle.
Mr Rimmer moved quickly to investigate the matter when allegations surfaced last December.
However, the broader culture of the council was questioned, including by Mr Doyle’s successor during the lord mayoral by-election campaign this year.
Ms Capp said things “shouldn’t have happened” and there was a need for leadership and a realignment of values at Town Hall.
Mr Rimmer, whose departure was formally announced this morning, said it was the right time to go after almost completing his four-year contract.
“I have always thought that late 2018/early 2019 was probably the right time for me to move on from the organisation, leaving council an appropriate period to appoint a new CEO and have that person well established before the 2020 election,” he said.
“Over the next five months, I’m looking forward to continuing to deliver council’s plans, and our internal work on strengthening the organisation, and will do everything I can to ensure a smooth transition to a new CEO.”
Mr Rimmer said he was proud that council projects were meeting the city’s infrastructure needs, while admitting that the stalled Queen Victoria Market redevelopment was “challenging”.
“The Munro development (in the market precinct) is about to commence construction. Southbank Boulevard is being delivered right now. And plans are well advanced for the major renewal of the Bourke Street Precinct, right in the heart of the city,” he said.
“The City of Melbourne now much more actively supports startups, biotech, smart city initiatives and our entrepreneurs and innovators, meaning that we are now consistently ranked in the top 10 city governments in the world for these activities.”
Mr Rimmer, a Rhodes Scholar, was a high-flying government bureaucrat before heading Town Hall management in February 2015.
He was a deputy secretary in the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet and an associate secretary in the federal Department of Human Services where he oversaw a major reform of services.
Mr Rimmer also had senior roles in Victorian government departments and private sector experience with Boston Consulting Group.
He is also an accomplished violinist, having played in the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra in his youth.
In a 2014 interview when he was a federal bureaucrat, Mr Rimmer likened playing music to working in the public service — “a team game”.
“You spend a lot of time trying to improve your performance. You become a bit of a perfectionist,” he said.
At the city council, Mr Rimmer presided over a period of high turnover of senior staff in recent years which was seen by some as being due to a culture problem.
However, Mr Rimmer said staff engagement results showed that over 70 per cent of staff consistently backed the statement that ‘I would recommend the City of Melbourne as a great place to work’.
“The senior leadership of the organisation has been refreshed and is in great shape, with a wealth of talent balanced between long-standing city employees and new recruits from outside the organisation,” he said.
Mr Rimmer faced his biggest challenge when confronted with the allegations of sexual harassment against Mr Doyle by fellow councillor Tessa Sullivan.
Mr Rimmer quickly appointed top QC Ian Freckelton to test the claims as Mr Doyle stood aside.
Mr Freckelton made four adverse findings against Mr Doyle.
However, another woman’s allegations against Mr Doyle involving a Melbourne Health event, were not resolved since Mr Doyle did not respond to the claims due to ill health.
Mr Doyle has consistently denied wrongdoing over all allegations.
In April, former premier Jeff Kennett, a backer of Ms Capp, said that Mr Rimmer had presided over low morale at the council, and he predicted the CEO would be gone by the end of the year.
Mr Rimmer’s annual salary package of $460,000 is the same as when he started the job.
He took extended sick leave in 2016 for a serious illness.
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