Ex-Geelong council exec quits after damning report

A FORMER City of Greater Geelong executive has resigned from the City of Ballarat after a bombshell report found he improperly handed high-paying roles to old Geelong colleagues.

Victorian Ombudsman Deborah Glass’ report said Terry Demeo “acted improperly in connection with the recruitment of his friends and former colleagues … to senior roles at Ballarat council”.

A council spokesman confirmed his resignation was handed in yesterday.

“Terry Demeo, director of infrastructure and environment at the City of Ballarat, has today tendered his resignation,” he said.

It was alleged Mr Demeo recruited three former Geelong Council colleagues during his time in Ballarat.

“He also changed a position description for a role to better suit one of them after HR raised concerns about their suitability for the original role,” Ms Glass wrote.

It was also revealed “one of the director’s former colleagues and friends moved from a full-time job with an annual salary of $93,000, to parttime work for which his company was paid around $400,000 over three years”, while another “was appointed and promoted in questionable circumstances”.

Ballarat chief executive Justine Linley faced an investigation over six hiring decisions.

Two were labelled “unwise at best, and may have been improper”, the report said.

Not all allegations against Mr Demeo or Ms Linley were substantiated, “but senior leaders must lead by example”, Ms Glass said.

“They set a culture in which demonstration and acceptance of poor practice can become the norm,” she said. “The assertion that those hired were the best people for the job cannot be tested, because process was not followed.”