Decision details

Moved by Councillor Weldon, seconded by Councillor Jarrett –

It is resolved that:

(A)      Council note:

(i)         the position of general manager (or Chief Executive Officer, as at the City of Sydney) is pivotal in a council. It is the interface between the governing body comprised of elected councillors, which sets the strategy and monitors the performance of the council, and the administrative body of the council, headed by the general manager, which implements the decisions of the governing body;

(ii)        performance of the Chief Executive Officer should be regularly reviewed and the process should be rigorous, fair, transparent, and inclusive of a diversity of councillors;

(iii)      the NSW Office of Local Government’s Guidelines for the Appointment and Oversight of General Managers set out best practice for the recruitment, appointment and performance oversight of general managers. These guidelines, issued under section 23A of the Local Government Act 1993, predicate that:

(a)       the performance of the general manager must be reviewed at least annually against the agreed performance criteria for the position; and

(b)       the council’s governing body establish a performance review panel (comprising the mayor, up to three councillors and/or an independent external person) to undertake performance management of the general manager; and

(iv)      current practice at the City of Sydney is for the Lord Mayor to conduct an individual performance conversation with the Chief Executive Officer. The Lord Mayor seeks input from Councillors to inform this conversation; and

(B)      prior to the next annual Chief Executive Officer performance review and for all subsequent years, Council establish a performance review panel and process that is consistent with that which is outlined in the NSW Office of Local Government’s Guidelines for the Appointment and Oversight of General Managers for the purpose of performance management of the City of Sydney Chief Executive Officer.

Carried unanimously.

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