Council looks for new CEO
Tablelands boss retires
RECRUITMENT is underway for a new interim chief executive for Tablelands Regional Council following the retirement of Bob Owen on Friday.
Mr Owen was eight months into a 14 month appointment as interim CEO but expressed his desire to step down to Mayor Rod Marti in early February.
“It’s happened quicker than we thought,” Cr Marti said.
“It’s OK. Bob’s got his own reasons for wanting to change his life and do more things that he’d like to do.
“We’ve allowed that to happen and we’ll move on.”
Cr Marti said the council was looking for someone with a good set of skills who was aligned with the council and had a thorough understanding of the Local Government Act.
“Even though we’re not a large council like Cairns Regional Council, we’ve still got a staff of 300, we’ve got a number of works depots … it’s a significant organisation,” he said.
“Local government is a tough gig but we live in a great region so we expect we’ll get some well-qualified leaders apply.”
At Thursday’s meeting, the council decided to appoint community and corporate services general manager Hilary Jackson as acting CEO.
“Hilary’s a highly skilled and competent professional person so she’ll have no problem filling that role until we get an interim CEO.”
Cr Marti said the decision to source another interim CEO rather than a permanent one was based on the desire to hire an external person at this time.
“We think it’s better that we have an interim external person because one of the key things they have to do is oversee the recruitment of the new CEO.”
“If the council wants to keep progressing with change I think it’s better if we’ve got someone who comes in with a fresh set of eyes and can give us an objective view of things.”
Cr Marti said it would be ideal to appoint a long-term chief executive before adopting the 2021/22 budget but that it might be ambitious as it could be a lengthy process to find the right person for the role.
The council is based at Atherton but its staff and volunteers operate from 30 locations including Mt Garnet, Ravenshoe, Innot Hot Springs, Herberton, Malanda and Yungaburra and manages assets of more than $552m.