Hilltops Administrator Wendy Tuckerman.
NSW Opposition leader Luke Foley and Shadow Minister for Local Government Peter Primrose have flagged the possibility of referring Council Administrators to the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) if they run in up coming local government elections set down for September. Primrose and Foley agreed that Administrators should be impartial figures and not possess a desire to run in the elections. Primrose said “They have been given access to millions of dollars of public money which no one else has access to, they determine where all the money goes and to which community groups, no one else running in the election has that head start.”
Primrose said that he had heard reports that Administrators across NSW intend to contest the next election. “If this is true, it would be a gross conflict of interest on their part and I would like to say that it’s almost tantamount to being corrupt.” Primrose said he will be referring the matter to ICAC. He wrote to his counterpart Gabrielle Upton requesting that Administrators intending to run in local elections to immediately stand down.
“These administrators have been paid substantial salaries by ratepayers, and exercised the full power of the council,” Mr Primrose’s letter to Ms Upton read. “Given the public resources and insider information available to the Administrators when compared to other candidates, their government appointment would give them a grossly undemocratic and unfair advantage.”
Hilltops Administrator Wendy Tuckerman’s profile continues to be on the rise thanks to her position as Hilltops Administrator. She receives $180,000 per annum or a total of $270,000 from the Council budget from Hilltops Council’s inception to the September 2017 election. The only problem with the remuneration and that of General Manager Anthony McMahon is that neither were determined by a democratically elected Council, representative of the people and rate payers of the area.
Tuckerman’s salary was determined by the State Government and she then determined McMahon’s. Both had a working relationship at the former Boorowa Shire Council where McMahon was promoted from an engineer to General Manager.
The new Council may yet have to deal with employees or consultants who have been employed on contracts which go well past the completion of Tuckerman’s Administration period which concludes in September, which could prove to be an impost for ratepayers. Reports from within the Local Advisory Committee state that they may be let go as early as June. For those mounting a campaign seeking election in September on the new Council, it will provide just over 2 months for campaigning. Tuckerman has got a good head start on all of the 18 members across the 3 former shire areas. Whilst they continue to sit silent not saying whether the Hilltops merger has been positive or negative for their communities, the public continues to form its own opinion.
The Twin Town Times will be looking at the Hilltops workforce in the coming weeks and will be crunching the numbers regarding redundancies, sackings, promotions and organisational restructuring.
