This respondent made some similar points to the CEOs presented above, including the recommendation that guidelines on remuneration should be developed by the industry and “need to be particularly robust and not too vague”.
They also agreed with the direction with proposed reforms of the Act in regard to CEO remuneration policy, audit committee oversight and independent advice for the mayor.
Councils, in their opinion, should introduce a specific delegated power for the Mayor to obtain advice in matters pertaining to the CEO where required.
While [I] support training, it needs to be ongoing and recognise that the vast majority of councillors are amateurs while CEOs are professionals. It is very difficult for councillors to obtain a sufficient level of capability to recruit a CEO, manage the contractual arrangements and performance monitor.
- local government sector law practitioner
Other key points included:
- no further restrictions on the appointment or reappointment of the CEO, if supported by robust guidelines
- termination payments to be in the range of 6-12 months, with full transparency to the community especially if a council decides to pay more than the industry standard
- full CEO contract, or at least key contract terms, should be on council website
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