By Sarah Schwager
CITY of Casey chief executive officer Mike Tyler has been reappointed.
The council resolved last Thursday to reappoint Mr Tyler for a further four-year term.
Controversy has surrounded the top job since April when the council moved to advertise the position, with many seeing the decision as a vote of no confidence in the city’s head.
A series of motions and rescission motions then followed, with councillors starting to interview recruitment consultants in August.
However, a month later the council did a backflip, resolving to abandon the process to publicly advertise the position and start negotiations to reappoint Mr Tyler.
This came after some councillors changed their vote, citing a breach of confidentiality after the name of the recruitment consultant company was leaked to some media outlets.
Mr Tyler last week accepted the top job at what has been reported as a hefty pay increase.
Mayor Colin Butler said Mr Tyler was the best man for the job as one of the most experienced CEOs in Australian local government.
“Mike has been the guiding force in the growth of Casey for some 13 years now and there are many development triumphs that have come to fruition under his leadership,” Cr Butler said.
“These include the Casey ARC, Pioneers Park and Casey Fields, to name a few.”
The appointment did not come without controversy, as the council moved to avoid another leak of information regarding the CEO job at last Thursday’s council meeting by moving a confidential item into open council.
The item related to the findings of an investigation conducted by the State Minister for Local Government about an alleged breach of confidentiality surrounding the appointment of McArthur Management Services to oversee the recruitment process of Casey’s CEO position.
Several local media outlets were leaked information about McArthur Management Services being hired.
The Government investigation found the information was not confidential as defined in the Local Government Act.