Another leadership fail by Bass Coast

IT WAS on Friday, June 23, 2023, that the City of Greater Geelong announced it had recruited Bass Coast’s CEO Ali Wastie as its new CEO.

And here we are, almost six months later, and the local council still hasn’t named her successor.

There’s nothing like a vacuum in leadership to make the troops restless, and that goes for a footy club and a small business operation as much as it does for the employees at your local council.

Conversely, the prompt appointment of an impressive individual to take the reins has the opposite effect, helping to galvanise a revitalised leadership group around the exciting challenge of leading one of the fastest growing, most picturesque, well-appointed, coastal municipalities in the state.

We’re not saying that an early appointment of a CEO might have encouraged key planning executive James Stirton to stay, but it might have made a difference.

So, while the Bass Coast Shire Council was navel-gazing over the messy appointment of a new mayor, and several other non-core matters, they’ve dropped the ball again, and failed to discharge one of their most important jobs, the appointment of a new CEO.

They’ve now lost their most talented, most engaging executive as well.

These councillors have just 10 months to get their heads back in the game before the next election; focusing on the basics of infrastructure and planning, waste management, community services, local laws and regulations, environmental management, health and wellbeing, economic development and financial management, building and inspections, accountability and transparency; to name a few of their key responsibilities, or else, they’ll be out.