Borough to reappoint CEO
QUEENSCLIFF council plans to reappoint current CEO Lenny Jenner without opening the position to external candidates.
The decision has been criticised by the Queenscliff Community Association despite council assurances that appropriate steps have been taken in considering his reappointment.
Mr Jenner has led the Borough of Queenscliffe council for 10 years and his current contract will expire on October 19.
Cr Boyce Pizzey said the decision was “one of the most difficult and testing” the council has had to make.
“All of us have been listening to the criticisms of Lenny over the period he’s been here, and to some extent, we’ve heard it,” Cr Pizzey said.
“At this point in time, we have to decide whether the weight we give to that is equal to the weight of other assessment.
“We (councillors) have already shared a very strong sense that this was something we had to do almost forensically and correctly and I personally am very satisfied that we have been through a proper, fair and equitable process”.
Queenscliff Community Association president David Connoley said the group was disappointed at council’s decision.
“The (association) believes council would have had little to lose and much to gain in undertaking such a process as a display of managing a transparent and accountable council decision,” he said.
“We do not believe council even has an established policy on such a vital recruitment process, this appears a massive oversight and crucial council process failure.”
The Point Lonsdale Civic Association has also expressed disappointment in the decision.
The Borough is currently juggling a number of highstakes projects, including Destination Queenscliff, Caravan Parks Masterplan and Queenscliff Sport and Recreation Precinct projects, and Mr Jenner’s understanding of those projects is one of the reasons cited in favour of his reappointment.
Councillors Ross Ebbels and Tony Francis backed Mr Jenner’s ability to network with key figures at both state and federal level to lobby for funding on behalf of the borough.
Cr Francis said Mr Jenner possessed a passion to serve his community. “We have seen a lot of dysfunctional councils across Victoria over the last few years, namely Central Goldfields, Ararat, Geelong, and there has been a couple around Melbourne,” he said
“Delivering for the com- munity is not easy, (it’s) very difficult to deliver for the community.
“We may not all agree with our current CEO and he may not be perfect, I don’t think any of us are — but what he does possess is some highly de- sirable role.”
Mr Jenner’s time at Queenscliff has not been without controversy.
A decision to host the council staff Christmas party at a business outside the borough skills to deliver the last year — a decision later reversed — sparked mass community outrage.
He was also the subject of an internal investigation following two bullying complaints (one of which was withdrawn) in 2016. It was determined by council based on legal advice that Mr Jenner had “no case to answer”.
Council has also recently come under fire for a budget blowout of over $600,000 for the Queenscliff Sport and Recreation Precinct project.
“His job (Lenny Jenner) is the one that cops it,” Cr Pizzey said.
“He cops his own decisions, but he also cops our decisions, so it’s a double whammy.”
While the CEO role is one readily scrutinised by the community, it is also one of the most well paid.
Mr Jenner earned between $240,000 and $249,000 in the 2016/17 financial year.
The Local Government Act requires councillors to advertise an open CEO position in a newspaper “circulating generally throughout Victoria”, unless council expresses a notion of intent to reappoint a current CEO at least six months before their contract is set to expire.
A motion to officially reappoint Mr Jenner is likely to be put forward at the next council meeting.