Scope of chief executive recruitment questioned by Townsville City Council duo

After Townsville mayor Troy Thompson’s bid to appoint an interim CEO himself failed early on in his tenure, a pair of councillors are calling for the whole council to have a more active say in the permanent chief executive’s recruitment.

TCC CEO Joe McCabe and Cr Ann-Maree Greaney. Picture: Evan Morgan

After Townsville mayor Troy Thompson’s bid to appoint an interim CEO himself failed early on in his tenure, a pair of councillors are calling for the whole council to have a more active say in the permanent chief executive’s recruitment.

The Townsville City Council agenda for Wednesday’s council meeting outlines Ann-Maree Greaney and Liam Mooney’s plan to bring forward a notice of motion involving “matters relating to the CEO.”

Interim chief executive Joe McCabe oversees and gives strategic advice to councillors in meetings, and when appointed in May his role was initially set between three to six months.

It is understood the relationship between the CEO and Mr Thompson is tense, with the mayor recently issuing a complaint to the Queensland Human Rights Commission on the grounds that executives had acted in a prejudiced manner towards him due to his epilepsy.

He also made unsubstantiated claims that while on leave, he was prevented from returning to his office by security, an act he claims was carried out on the orders of the interim CEO.

Mr Thompson will also again plead his case to hire a mayoral advisor, which was voted down in May.

“The residents and the community deserve to have one councillor advisor supporting their mayor in council,” the mayor’s motion reads.

Consultancy firm McArthur is recruiting a permanent position to replace the former CEO Prins Ralston, who gave his resignation two days after the new council was sworn in.

Ms Greaney said the motion would be based around the CEO role, regardless of if it was the interim or permanent role, as well as around KPIs and remuneration.

She said it was important for transparency that detailed policies and guidelines were given.

Cr Liam Mooney. Picture: Evan Morgan

Mr Mooney said he supported a proposal for all councillors to actively sit on a panel to examine the short list of CEO applicants, rather than it be left to the mayor and several panellists.

He said it needed to be decided soon.

Mr McCabe’s term could be extended indefinitely, but there needed to be legitimate efforts to recruit someone for the permanent role.

“An acting CEO can be appointed to the CEO role, but I don’t know whether that’s going to be the case here or not,” Mr Mooney said.

Mr Mooney said there were other parts to the proposal which involved measuring the CEO’s performance.

“And with everything that’s going on, you know, with the mayor and everything, we think it’s a good idea that all councillors be involved,” Mr Mooney said.

“We all work closely with the CEO, it’s someone we need to work well with, and is it something that the councillors should have a say in anyway?”

Mr Mooney said councillors have been given a shortlist of candidates but it was understood that the options were “significantly reduced” before they were able to see them.

“I do understand there is some belief from some councillors that there should be some other names on that list, but that’s not anything to do with us, because it’s provided by McArthur.”

The council would also discuss a “human resource matter” in the confidential section of the meeting, which involved the appointment or discipline of a CEO.

Originally published as Scope of chief executive recruitment questioned by Townsville City Council duo