The December 12 council-under-administration meeting saw the Administrator adopt an Administrator’s MInute that was not made public until late the next morning – more than 14 hours after the decision was made.
The Meeting Code of Conduct says items must be available to the public at a time as close to when they are available to Councillors, or in the Coast’s case, the administrator.
The Minute gave a five year extension to the CEO David Farmer’s contract, meaning he has the job until April 2029.
Two council elections will have been held in that time: September 2024 and 2028.
He also gets a four per cent pay rise.
It is the job of the councillors, or in our case, the administrator, to hire their CEO.
Mr Farmer declared an interest in the item and left the meeting while it was dealt with.
His performance review was conducted on 22 August 2023 and he received an overall rating of 4.3 out of a possible 5, being a better than
satisfactory rating.
satisfactory rating.
The Administrator’s Minute stated that Mr Farmer requested the extension.
He was appointed to the role of CEO of Central Coast Council-under-administration on April 12, 2021.
The Administrator Rik Hart said he had been approached on a number of occasions by community members concerned about maintaining financial sustainability when an elected councillors returns.
He said he had been told by community members that they want to see the current CEO retained to assist in securing our financial stability and sustainability into the future.
“As Council transitions from a long period of Administration, it is critical that it maintains and builds upon the improvements made to its organisational governance, steadiness, and competence,” Mr Hart said.
“To that end, consistency in leadership is warranted as an ideal.
For this reason, I am recommending Council offer Mr Farmer a further five (5) year contract term for the period of 12 April 2024 – 11 April 2029 on the terms and conditions set out in the OLG Standard Contract of Employment for General Managers on a TRP (total remuneration package) of $562,824.41,” Mr Hart said.
For this reason, I am recommending Council offer Mr Farmer a further five (5) year contract term for the period of 12 April 2024 – 11 April 2029 on the terms and conditions set out in the OLG Standard Contract of Employment for General Managers on a TRP (total remuneration package) of $562,824.41,” Mr Hart said.
He adopted his Minute and the performance documents remained confidential.
