Clarence Valley Council has been suspended for three months, with NSW Local Government Minister Ron Hoenig appointing an interim administrator to restore its proper functioning after weeks of leadership turmoil.
Hoenig announced on Thursday that experienced local government executive John Rayner PSM would take over the functions of the elected council during the suspension.
The decision follows the council’s unanimous request for an external investigation into a broad range of concerns about its governance, administration, operations and financial management.
“I have today suspended Clarence Valley Council for three months and appointed Mr John Rayner PSM as interim administrator because I reasonably believe his appointment is necessary to restore the proper or effective functioning of the Council,” said Hoenig.
The matters identified by the council included statutory compliance, workplace culture, recruitment, financial management and procurement, councillor access to information, complaints and Public Interest Disclosures, and internal audit and risk management.
They also included possible maladministration, waste and systemic governance failure. The minister’s statement did not announce findings on those matters.
“Many of those matters concern fundamental responsibilities of the governing body itself,” said Hoenig.
“I considered submissions and each of the prescribed suspension criteria before making my decision.”
The suspension comes despite councillors’ efforts to retain their elected roles while an experienced interim general manager led an improvement program.
Councillors had agreed at their October 6 extraordinary meeting to recruit an experienced interim general manager for up to 12 months. The appointee was to conduct an initial 90-day assessment, develop an improvement program and provide monthly progress reports after that assessment.
Councillors also proposed asking Hoenig to allow them to remain in office while a six-month improvement program proceeded.
The council sought an extra week to respond to Hoenig’s October 2 correspondence so councillors could formally debate their submission at the scheduled October 15 meeting.
The Clarence Valley Independent reported that the recruitment motion passed 5-4, with councillors divided over replacing acting general manager Adam Cameron.
The intervention follows the termination of former general manager Laura Black’s contract on September 23, a week after an incorrectly declared mayoral ballot.
In the failed mayoral election incumbent mayor Ray Smith and former mayor Peter Johnstone were tied in the mayoral ballot 4-4, which under the legislation triggers the mayor being chose by drawing a name from a hat. Smith’s name was drawn from a hat, but Black declared Johnstone the winner instead of Smith.
Johnstone resigned when the error was discovered, to be re-elected at another ballot a few days later.
The ABC reported that confidential council papers accidentally published online cited a breakdown in the relationship between Black and a majority of councillors as the reason for seeking her departure.
Councillors noted that Black had not previously been given notice of a dispute or had performance-related issues raised with her, according to the report.
Cameron, the council’s environment and planning director, was subsequently appointed acting general manager.
Rayner will now exercise the governing body’s functions for the three-month suspension period.
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