By Phil Jarratt
While no one from Noosa Council’s staff seems willing yet to go on the record about the state of Noosa Council’s organisational structure, Mayor Clare Stewart interrupted a holiday break to publish a statement of praise for the workforce, including the recently sacked director of corporate services, Michael Shave, while calling for an independent performance review.
And soon-to-depart chief executive officer Brett de Chastel echoed the Mayor’s sentiments, speaking to Noosa Today.
In the Mayor’s statement, published first on her Clare Stewart Noosa Mayor Facebook page, Cr Stewart expressed “disappointment” at last week’s front page story, Sacking turmoil and continued: “I want to make it abundantly clear that our Council staff are affirmed in their efforts – something I have repeatedly stated over my time as Mayor. Our staff do a terrific job.” (The full statement is published on today’s Letters page.)
Of Mr Shave, Cr Stewart wrote: “In regard to the recent departure of Michael Shave, Noosa Council’s former Director of Corporate Services, I want to reaffirm that the former director’s contribution to the organisation and the shire was significant. Much of the reason we are in such a good position financially is due to Michael’s outstanding ability and his fiscal responsibility. I feel a deep sense of regret about his departure. At the same time, I would register that decisions of this nature demand our respect and confidentiality.”
In a subsequent phone conversation with Noosa Today, the mayor reiterated hiring and firing staff was “the sole responsibility of the chief executive officer”. Asked why, if staff morale was as high as she claimed, she was pushing for an independent review, Cr Stewart said: “Because there’s always room for improvement.”
Mr de Chastel declined to comment directly on individual staffing issues, but told Noosa Today: “Noosa Council is lucky to have great staff. We’ve always attracted good people and nothing has changed about that, but like every council in Queensland we’ve been facing very heavy workloads due to government stimulus packages, a record capital works program and huge numbers of building applications to process.
“But in relation to staff turnover, I report every three months and the most recent (August) showed 6.6 per cent compared with the average of 8-10 per cent. The next report will be higher, but when you consider that Mount Isa is at 52 per cent, there’s no comparison. Council is, however, facing the same challenges in staffing shortages as those faced by the building and hospitality industries, and we are working through them.”
In relation to Michael Shave’s departure, a former senior local government officer told Noosa Today that it would be “most unusual” for a mayor and councillors not to be made aware of the sacking of a senior executive before it happened, but Noosa councillors have confirmed to Noosa Today they were told only that Mr Shave was “planning to resign”.
Although Mr Shave denied having said this, a possible explanation was put to Noosa Today by a former insider: “Michael has a temper and can fly off the handle at times. Given the circumstances, that would not have been surprising.”
Meanwhile, the rumbles of discontent at the Pelican Street chambers continue to grow. Sources within, and close to the executive team and its staff of more than 370 told Noosa Today this week the organisation was “on its knees” following an unprecedented run of terminations and resignations. As well as the director of corporate services, recent departures have included the environment manager, senior environment officer, climate change officer, environment planner, manager of civil operations and two civil operations officers, works coordinator, and environment services officer.
The depletion of the ranks in the environment and sustainability department is seen as particularly disturbing, and possibly reflective of a new ordering of priorities by the current council, with staff advice repeatedly ignored.
“The staff still there are walking around like stunned mullet,” one source told Noosa Today.
“Things have reached the stage where the ratepayers have to start asking the hard questions and hold Council accountable. The ratepayers pretty much went into hibernation over Covid. There have been opportunities for them to express their opinions and ask questions, but not many, and as a result the level of transparency in Council is at a historic low.”
According to another source, Council’s financials still look good because of the strong planks of financial planning put in place by the executive team – particularly accountant Michael Shave – in the period immediately after de-amalgamation, an opinion supported by the mayor in her statement. But, the source said, organisational instability could now threaten that too.
When Mr de Chastel retires next month, director of community services Kerry Contini will be the only member of the executive team left with significant experience at Noosa Council.
“When you’ve got a council that’s not only under-performing but is also losing all the talent from its staff, you have a serious problem,” the source said.
But a senior staffer discounted the idea that the $50 million capital works program was putting undue pressure on staff.
“Our staff levels are sufficient to run the capital works program,” the staffer said. “If there’s a problem with that you’d have to say it was a management problem.”
