Hilltops Council General Manager, Dr Edwina Marks, has announced she intends to resign her position. Dr Marks announced on Friday that she plans to depart the Council in early 2020, following just over 12 months in the position. She hopes the next few months will allow her the opportunity to ensure existing and planned projects are on their way to completion in the lead up to the next term of council, due to begin with elections in September 2020.
Dr Marks joined Hilltops in 2018, having previously held Chief Executive Officer roles at the Barkly Regional Council in the Northern Territory and the Bulloo Shire Council in South West Queensland. She was the merged Council’s second General Manager, serving after the departure of Anthony McMahon. Councillors were called to attend an extraordinary meeting on Tuesday in Young, where the issue of finding Dr Marks’ successor was expected to be addressed.
The meeting, which is closed to the public, will begin the recruitment process, with a new General Manager expected to be in place early next year. Dr Marks’ short tenure has not been without controversy, most recently in August with the revelation that staff had made crucial decisions regarding the disposal of asbestos material without first consulting council.
The discovery of asbestos while renovating the Young pool, saw clean up costs total $667.640 without Council first approving, seeing the contract value increase by $1 million. Dr Marks apologised at the time, insisting that Council staff had not sought to deceive Councillors, but had simply made a mistake.
