Cr Daniel Mackrell proposed the controversial committee in a matter of urgent business at the end of Tuesday’s council meeting.
Six weeks have passed since council decided to advertise the chief executive position and Cr Mackrell claimed nothing had been done since.
“The CEO’s role in local government is pivotal and it’s a requirement. We need processes, we need timelines … and I really don’t know why we haven’t done it,” he said.
“We have a council that runs seven days a week, we have a CEO that finishes in May, we haven’t looked at an acting CEO, we actually haven’t even got to a process of looking at an employment agency.’’
Cr Mackrell proposed a CEO Employment and Contract Committee (CEOCC) of mayor Adrian Weston, deputy mayor Vicki Neele, Cr Neil Pankhurst and Cr Leigh Wilson be established.
The committee’s tasks would include setting timelines for the employment process and liaising with relevant staff, resources and legal facilitators to amend the chief executive’s contract before April 16.
It would also recommend a facilitator to assist with securing an employment agency and reviewing the job requirements by April 9.
After working closely with the chosen employment agency and selecting the top candidate, the committee would be disbanded.
Cr Annie Vickers said she wanted to be on board for this crucial council decision.
But both Cr Pankhurst and Cr Wilson insisted the committee would only be advisory.
“All councillors still get to participate in the decision-making role. This is ensuring a process does actually take place,’’ Cr Wilson said.
“I’ll be very frank – I have not supported the process to where we’ve got to today. So I am in support of a process that actually is a documented process, it is a transparent process – I certainly can’t say it’s been a transparent process to this point.’’
But Cr Neele was confident council was progressing well without a committee.
“I understand your concern about the timeframes ... but I believe we are on track to meet the timelines,” she said.
Council voted 5-4 to support the motion.