Shoalhaven City Council CEO, Robyn Stevens, faces an imminent threat of losing the top job she has held only since February, as covert moves by Mayor Patricia White to oust Stevens become harder to contain.
by Cat Holloway /
Mayor Patricia White, Clr Bob Proudfoot and the (now) Deputy Mayor Peter Wilkins reportedly “ambushed” CEO Robyn Stevens in her office demanding that she resign or be sacked, according to a knowledgeable Council source.
After several tense weeks of rumour and social media conjecture, Liza Butler MP, the NSW State Member for South Coast, went on record today, confirming that:
"The Mayor called me the evening of Thursday 10 October, which was the day before Councillors were officially sworn in, to say that she and Councillors Proudfoot and Wilkins had had a meeting with the CEO that afternoon to discuss the CEO’s employment moving forward.
"Mayor White stated that she wanted me to hear this directly from herself rather than via 'the grapevine'."
Ms Butler said she contacted the Office of Local Government (OLG) regarding that meeting and advised Mayor White as such.
"The Mayor also confirmed that she too had spoken to OLG and that they had advised her to get legal advice from Local Government NSW, the Peak Body."
"It is my understanding that the Mayor has done this.
"It was also stressed to me that if Shoalhaven Council did decide to dismiss the CEO, it would be a no-grounds termination.
"The OLG advised me that if Shoalhaven Council did dismiss the CEO, it would raise concerns due to the financial position of Council."
Sources say several top-level managers are so angry about the conduct of Shoalhaven Independent Group (SIG) leadership that they would depart in solidarity with CEO Stevens if she is sacked or pushed to resign.
One said the meeting “breached protocol, was inappropriate and threatening”.
Council staff are not permitted to speak publicly about councillors or politics but Spark has received word of growing discontent among staff worried about job security and redundancy.
The source supported CEO Stevens’ steps to "repair a toxic culture" within SCC and feared that removing her would be costly and send the organisation “back in time”.
After Shoalhaven Council's Get Involved page announced that a video statement from the CEO would be online in the coming days, former Councillor Dr Tonia Gray, who was not re-elected this year, welcomed the news.
"The new CEO at Shoalhaven Council is an extremely proficient communicator and IMHO much better than the previous CEO," Ms Gray wrote on Facebook.
Gray told Spark that if senior leaders departed Shoalhaven Council it would be "a tremendous loss" and "leave the place in a diabolical mess".
"The CEO Robyn Stevens, director of city performance Kerrie Hamilton and CFO Katie Buckman are the highest calibre of professionals you could come across."
NSW Mayors can dismiss Council CEOs without fault - a controversial power because it politicises top public servant appointments, is enormously expensive and legally fraught.
Council CEOs and other top-level local government directors are paid handsome six-figure salaries for their responsibilities and such enviable pay is widely regarded as compensation for job insecurity. (In 2019-2020, the average remuneration for a metropolitan NSW General Manager/CEO ranged from $334,108 to $633,852.)
Since each no-reason termination entitles a CEO to at least a 38-week payout, every termination costs the community hundreds of thousands of dollars.
However, the CEO is the only council employee that elected councillors can appoint or terminate.
Mayor Patricia White admitted on last Thursday’s Chance and Bec Brekkie Show that she had had a meeting “with two councillors” but said she had not “waved a stick yet”.
“We are working through the progress of that space,” Mayor White said.
“One of the concerns is the financial position of the council and how we are moving forward.”
Even before September's local council election, then Clr Patricia White spoke to media criticising CEO Robyn Stevens’ proposed restructure as part of cost-saving measures in Shoalhaven Council.
As a Mayoral candidate, White disagreed with the timing and specifics of the restructure that sought staff feedback and included some positions becoming "disestablished".
A stinging but unattributed August 9 post on The Development and Environmental Professionals' Association (DEPA) website claimed the CEO was potentially in breach of the Local Government Act because the Council had the right to determine staff structures and be consulted on the dismissal of senior staff.
"On 1 August, the new CEO at Shoalhaven City Council, Robyn Stevens, met with three Directors and told them she was restructuring and they would be terminated under their standard contracts and paid a redundancy."
"This is very unusual timing (potentially unprecedented) for a CEO to initiate a restructure so close to an election."
A Notice of Motion was lodged for the next council meeting on August 12:
"That the CEO be requested to withdraw any proposed changes and potential redundancies and hold the planned restructure of Directorates until after the new Council has been installed and consulted.”
The CEO noted on the Council meeting record:
"The proposal includes a timeline that allows for consultation with the incoming Council before any final decision is made. Delays may have a detrimental effect on the financial benefits of the proposed reforms."
The motion was carried to withdraw Steven's restructure proposal, despite that she estimated it would provide at least $1.3m in annual savings.
But the merry-go-round continued at Council's extra ordinary meeting on November 5 where Councillors contradicted Mayor White’s previous stance, expressing dissatisfaction with a lack of action from the CEO over staff restructuring.
Councillors then voted for the CEO to present a complete restructure plan for community consultation within 28 days.
This backflip passed as one amendment to the recommendation to put Council’s rate rise proposals out for community feedback. Baffled councillors sought a closed-door briefing two days later for clarification.
Three Labor councillors supported community consultation on rate rises but opposed the unorthodox SIG-led amendments, including one committing 80% of the extra rate revenue on road repairs.
Extensive documents explaining the rate rise proposals were put on public display on November 7 and community workshops were also announced.
On Facebook, Clr Ben Krikstolaitis explained why he opposed the amendments.
“There seems to be a push from some councillors to sack a bunch of staff or reduce all of the staff incomes to stave off an SRV.”
“Firstly, the impacts of that would be monumental," Clr Krikstolaitis wrote.
"Reduced services, reduced output and reduced outcome.
"That doesn't even address the poor people getting fired or having their salaries lowered.”
Spark understands Shoalhaven Labor councillors will soon release formal statements on the amendments moved by SIG Councillors and the treatment of the CEO.
Meanwhile, Independent Clr Jemma Tribe said she remained ‘very concerned about what appears to be a lack of transparency from a party that promised it.”
Clr Tribe objected in the Council meeting to the Mayor using her power to select community members for the Financial Review Panel without community input.
Interviewed by Col Hesse on Triple U community radio afterwards, Clr Tribe explained:
“I did rise to my feet to speak to that because I just believe proper process and transparency would require an Expression of Interest just so that it is an open process for community members to follow,” Clr Tribe said.
In her Council deputation on Nov 5, long-time SIG campaigner Denise Kemp spoke staunchly against any Special Rate Variation beyond the 3.8% rate peg.
But after the meeting, Kemp and others were scathing on the SIG-supported Shoalhaven residents complaints Facebook page Kemp administers amid calls for council to sack the CEO and other staff.
Ms Kemp is the most likely candidate to become a Councillor after the election countback is complete following the shock resignation of Mitchell Pakes before the new council was even sworn in.
Ms Kemp has two active online petitions: Call for the immediate resignation of Mayor Amanda Findley and Reject the rate rise proposal by Shoalhaven City Council for 2024/25.
Ms Kemp is active in the campaign to restore the 45-degree rule - a divisive tree removal policy that is unique to Shoalhaven and currently open for community feedback.
Her prolific lobbyist activities may contravene Councillor Code of Conduct obligations if she accepts a seat in Shoalhaven Council.
How damaging these increasingly fraught relationships between the Mayor, CEO and Councillors are to Shoalhaven Council operations remains to be seen.
The question of how soon - if at all - Shoalhaven Council might face administration also remains unanswered.
Spark sought clarification from Mayor White about her intentions and actions regarding Council’s CEO. No response was forthcoming at the time this story was posted.
As this develops, Spark Shoalhaven will post new information on the website site when possible.
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