Former lord mayor ‘broke protocol’ in CEO negotiations, report alleges

Former City of Parramatta lord mayor and current state Labor MP Donna Davis became so personally involved in recruiting the council’s new chief executive officer that a high-ranking council executive reported the matter to the Independent Commission Against Corruption.

Days after local government executive Gail Connolly was appointed to the top position at the council in March 2023, an executive staff member sent a 15-page document to the ICAC alleging “irregular negotiation practices” and “insistent candidate choices” in the lead-up to her appointment.

City of Parramatta chief executive Gail Connolly and then-City of Parramatta lord mayor Donna Davis in a May 2023 Instagram post.Credit: @donnadavismp

But the anti-corruption body made no findings in response to the allegations. The matter was referred to the Office of Local Government, which said it did not comment on what it was or was not investigating. The Herald is not suggesting that Davis nor Connolly engaged in corrupt conduct, only that a staff member raised concerns.

Included in the confidential dossier obtained by the Herald is the allegation that Davis, lord mayor at the time of Connolly’s appointment, finalised the $500,000 contract in the hours before a council meeting to rescind the offer and informed councillors of her actions 22 minutes before the start of the meeting.

A spokesperson for Davis – who resigned as councillor in May last year after being elected to state parliament – said she stood by the recruitment process.

“The recruitment of the CEO followed all appropriate processes including the Guidelines for the Appointment and Oversight of General Managers and complied with all legal advice sought,” the spokesperson said.

“In addition to legal advice provided by the City of Parramatta Council, external legal advice was also provided.

“Ms Davis had never met the now CEO of the City of Parramatta Council prior to her applying for the role.”

A spokesperson for the council and Connolly said the council “conducted a robust recruitment process for its CEO utilising an external recruitment firm which included an extensive national search, and that the process was consistent with the Office of Local Government’s guidelines”.

‘Irregular negotiation practices’

In September 2022, five councillors – three Labor, one independent, and one Our Local Community – joined a selection panel on the hunt for a new leader. Connolly, who had held similar positions at Ryde and Georges River, was announced as the council’s new chief executive on March 28, 2023, ending the six-month-long recruitment process.

In the report, the staff member pointed to the state government guidelines that state that selection panels should include a “suitably qualified person independent of the council”. Minutes from the meeting show no such person was appointed, but a recruitment company was later selected to aid in the process.

Parramatta’s then-lord mayor Donna Davis at the suburb’s Riverside Theatre.Credit: Jacky Ghossein

At a council meeting on March 13, 2023, councillors resolved to offer Connolly the role. But the report alleged that, a day before that, Davis requested staff prepare a report on the “urgent employment matter”.

“Specific instructions were given to the report writers to only include reference to a single ‘preferred candidate’,” the dossier said.

At the March 13 meeting, the council moved into a closed session. The minutes record that Davis “directed all staff and members of the public in attendance at the meeting to vacate the Chamber and close all the doors”, while recruitment agency staff were allowed to stay.

“Contrary to [the] Code of Meeting Practice and regulations for Webcasting of Meetings,” the report alleged, “the lord mayor ‘directed’ all audio and visual recordings of the meeting to cease for the closed session.”

In that session, councillors voted to provide the “preferred candidate” with “a formal offer of appointment”, meeting records show.

At a meeting the next day, Davis requested staff begin preparing a contract for Connolly, but the report to the ICAC alleged that “contract negotiations had been ongoing between the Lord Mayor, the CEO recruitment panel, and [Connolly] for at least a week” before the council’s resolution to offer her the job.

The council’s human resources director “was privy to irregular negotiation practices between the Lord Mayor and the preferred candidate”.

“The preferred candidate also provided the Lord Mayor with text/screenshots of various salary packages received by other CEOs as part of her negotiation process, which were shared with the [HR director],” the report alleged.

That prompted the HR director to raise concerns with Davis, the report alleged, about the “unusual way in which the negotiation was being conducted”, especially since negotiations were not occurring through the recruiter.

Councillors attempted to withdraw offer

Within two days of the council resolving to offer Connolly the contract, councillors Michelle Garrard, Georgina Valjak – both of whom were on the selection panel – and Lorraine Wearne issued a rescission motion, the report alleged.

Davis requested that the motion not be placed on the council’s meeting agenda, breaking regular protocols, the report alleged, saying, “The Lord Mayor was very adamant this was not to occur.

“It appeared quite a strange request and one done in order to potentially ensure that the rescission motion would not appear in the public domain before the NSW state election of 25th March.”

The extraordinary general meeting was scheduled for 5.30pm on March 27. In a meeting with council officials that day, Davis “produced an [Office of Local Government] contract template from an Express Post envelope which was signed by [Connolly] and [she] requested that we assist her in signing and executing the contract prior to the extraordinary meeting at 5.30pm”.

“The title page was reprinted and the signing/witness page prefilled with the required signatories and printed for execution,” the report said, noting the council’s seal was accessed.

After staff followed those instructions, Davis emailed councillors at 5.08pm – 22 minutes before the meeting to discuss the rescission was due to begin – “outlining that she had received legal advice regarding her ability to execute the CEO’s contract – and that she had done so”.

“There was significant shock, disbelief and unrest amongst all [councillors] prior to the meeting,” the report alleged.

But the rescission motion was never heard by the council. The meeting minutes show Davis ruled it unlawful “because the employment contract has been executed and implementation of the motion if adopted would put the Council in breach of contract”.

The council is now in caretaker mode ahead of the September 14 local government elections.

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