Latest News

Clarence Valley Council’s general manager, Ashley Lindsay. Image; Contributed

Committee “more than satisfied” with GM’s performance

Geoff Helisma|

The panel that assesses the performance of Clarence Valley Council’s (CVC) general manager has given Ashley Lindsay its tick of approval, following his midterm assessment for 2019/20.

In a report to yesterday’s March 24 CVC meeting, the panel – comprised of the mayor and deputy mayor, councillors Jim Simmons and Jason Kingsley, and councillors Richie Williamson and Peter Ellem – stated that, “overall”, it was “more than satisfied with the performance of the general manager during a chaotic last six months, with [the] bushfires and the recent floods”.

“[Mr Lindsay] has demonstrated positive leadership of both the organisation and within the community,” the mayor’s mayoral minute stated.

“The general manager is well respected by the staff.

“The General Manager’s Performance Review Panel is satisfied the midterm assessment is complete.

“A confidential copy of the midterm assessment with aggregated ranking is attached [to the business paper].”

The office of Local Government’s guidelines for the appointment and oversight of general managers states: “The panel should report back to the governing body of council in a closed session, the findings and recommendations of its performance review, as soon as practicable, following any performance review.

“This should not be an opportunity to debate the results or re-enact the performance review of the general manager.”

Councillors not on the panel were invited to provide feedback on the GM’s performance prior to the assessment, which took place on February 25.

“Feedback [from councillors] was received and discussed by the panel as part of the review,” the report to yesterday’s meeting [after the Independent’s print deadline] stated.

The mayor recommended that councillors “note” and receive the assessment.