Following what has been described as a robust recruitment process to fill the position of MidCoast Council general manager, councillors voted at Monday’s (May 28) extraordinary meeting that mayor David West undertake negotiations with the preferred candidate.
“We are pleased to have made a decision to offer the position to the preferred candidate, who we believe will deliver strong leadership for the organisation,” Cr West said.
All MidCoast Council councillors were involved in establishing the recruitment process along with the nomination of members for the selection panel.
The position was then advertised nationally and attracted a field of candidates.
The two-stage interview process saw initial interviews conducted by the selection panel of mayor, David West, deputy-mayor, Katheryn Smith and councillors, Claire Pontin, Troy Fowler and Karen Hutchinson.
The selection panels was joined by external independent specialist from Local Government Management Solutions (LGMS).
A workshop also was held with LGMS and councillors to discuss the qualities being sought for the role, the length of the contract, the remuneration package and the selection criteria.
On Monday, May 28 all councillors, other than Cr Kathryn Bell who had a leave of absence for the meeting, participated in the second-round interviews of the final three candidates, leading to the decision for the mayor to enter into negotiations with the preferred candidate.
The contract for the position is the Office of Local Government’s standard contract for the employment of general managers.
The position became available when Glenn Handford resigned last December.
Mr Handford was appointed general manager of the newly formed MidCoast Council in July 2017 after leading council in an interim position following the 2016 amalgamation of Great Lakes, Greater Taree and Gloucester councils.
