Robin Weatherald, who was elected to council in 2023 and served in the role for five months before council was suspended in December, has raised an issue concerning the newly appointed chief executive, Rachelle Quattrocchi.
After attending the meeting of council on Tuesday, July 15, Mr Weatherald said he walked away with the impression that council had a lack of faith in Ms Quattrocchi.
“It appeared to those that were present that there was a shocking vote of no confidence,” Mr Weatherald said.
“Council cannot operate effectively if they have no confidence in the CEO.”
In May this year, Ms Quattrocchi assumed her role as chief executive, having not previously served in the same role, but bringing to the position 25 years of experience in local government.
Towards the conclusion of the July 15 meeting, council closed it to the public as a result of the confidential nature of item 15.1, which involved the discussion of the Chief Executive Officer Performance Plan.
Along with the present members of the public, Ms Quattrocchi was removed from the meeting.
Mr Weatherald noted that Ms Quattrocchi had not disclosed a conflict of interest at the beginning of the meeting and said he found it concerning that the chief executive’s performance was already being discussed just months after she began her role.
“At the start of the meeting, the officers and councillors were invited to declare any conflicts of interest. There were none,” Mr Weatherald said.
“At the end of the meeting, the mayor said to the CEO that council would be going into confidential discussions, and that they were talking about the CEO’s performance, and the room was cleared.
“It was very unusual; the CEO has only been in the job for a few months, she’s inexperienced and brand new.
“For her to be sent out of the room did not seem appropriate.”
In response to Mr Weatherald’s concerns, council said it was common practice for chief executives to have a performance plan.
“The CEO Rachelle Quattrocchi was recently appointed, the confidential matter was to discuss her performance plan as agreed through previous conversations between the CEO and council,” a council spokesperson said.
“It is a requirement that all CEOs have a performance plan that outlines the priorities for the CEO for the next 12 months.
“This is a confidential personnel matter between the CEO and council.
“It is not appropriate for the CEO or others to be in the room when her performance plan is being discussed.”
The spokesperson said the absence of Ms Quattrocchi from this part of the meeting “in retrospect, could have been made clearer at the start”.
While Mr Weatherald said “the normal statutory procedure was not legally followed”, the spokesperson said council could close meetings to the public if the item being discussed was commercial-in-confidence, legal advice, or regarding contractual arrangements or personnel issues.
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