Bass Coast squeezed in Geelong power play

BASS Coast’s councillors, and the local community, have been completely blindsided by the announcement last Friday that their CEO of four years and five months, Ali Wastie, is going to the troubled City of Greater Geelong as its new Chief Executive Officer.
As late as last Wednesday, June 21, when councillors met for their regular monthly council meeting, they still didn’t know of her plans for a sudden departure…
…or that the Minister for Local Government, Melissa Horne, was pulling the strings.
Even when the councillors went into closed session, at the end of their meeting, to discuss a performance review from the shire’s ‘CEO Employment Matters Committee’, reportedly to formalise Ms Wastie’s new five-year contract extension, they were still in the dark.
In fact, the councillors were only told of Ms Wastie’s departure on Friday morning, just hours before a media statement went out at 12 noon and some councillors contacted by the ‘Sentinel-Times’ were still in a state of shock last Friday afternoon.
Clearly though, the appointment has been a long time in the making, and has passed through dozens of hands, including those of the State Minister for Local Government, the Hon. Melissa Horne MP, before being announced on Friday.
And it’s likely that questioning of the Minister at the State Government’s Public Accounts and Estimates Committee (PAEC) hearing on June 14, by the Member for Western Victoria, and PAEC Committee Member, Bev McArthur, precipitated the Geelong appointment, and Ms Wastie’s sudden departure from Bass Coast, little more than two weeks later.
“Going to Geelong, Minister, as I understand the monitors have reported, ‘There’s nothing to see here’. Why do Geelong ratepayers still have to fund a monitor – or two, actually?” Ms McArthur asked the Minister.
“They are doing some really important work down there, and the chief municipal inspectorate wrote to me a little while ago recommending that monitors be put in place around the appointment of the CEO. They are currently going through that process, and it was incumbent on me to respond to that integrity.”
Ms McArthur claimed the CEO appointment process was taking 18 months to two years to complete, despite the fact that former CEO Martin Cutter departed “unexpectedly” in September 2022, leaving the city’s Director of Strategy, People and Performance, Kaarina Phyland, in charge as Acting CEO.
“They are going through the final stages of recruitment at the moment… I am having periodic updates from the monitors down in Geelong, who are really confident in the process of appointing a CEO. They are saying that is what really needs to happen before any other decisions are made,” Minister Horne said, referring to the tenure of municipal monitors.
So, Geelong’s gain is our loss.
Secretary of the Bass Coast Ratepayers and Residents Association, Kevin Griffin, termed the announcement as “unbelievable!”
“Just a few months into a 5-year appointment the CEO has jumped ship,” Mr Griffin said on social media.
“Not even so long as a year ago Ms Wastie said that she was thrilled to continue to serve Bass Coast Shire Council as Chief Executive Officer… it is reasonable to ask how soon after BCSC announced the 5-year extension did Ms Wastie begin seeking out other positions?”
Last Friday, the Bass Coast Shire Council announced it would “soon start a search for a new Chief Executive Officer following the resignation of Ali Wastie who has accepted a new role” but would appoint “an interim leader” in the meantime.
Ms Wastie said she was proud of the achievements Council had delivered in her short time at the helm of “one of Victoria’s most progressive and dynamic councils”, including population and economic growth, critical infrastructure investment and managing the challenges of COVID.
Highlights, she said, included “council’s landmark gender equality work”, including 16 weeks paid parental leave regardless of gender, a partnership agreement with Hawthorn Football Club to promote women and girls’ participation in sport, equal prize money for sports events on shire property and the development of a Climate Change Action Plan and Waste Strategy towards achieving net zero emissions by 2030.
The step-up to managing Victoria’s second biggest municipality is a big one, going from Bass Coast’s $106 million annual budget to Geelong’s $564.9 million budget, with capital projects of $195.9 million, debt levels of $180.9 million, new borrowings of $70 million and employee costs of almost $200 million.
Council Watch Victoria lists the CEO’s salary at Geelong in the range of $450,000 to $460,000.
Ms Wastie’s Geelong promotion follows her appointment as Chair of the inaugural Board for Alpine Resorts Victoria in August last year by the Minister for Environment Lily D’Ambrosio.
Mayor Cr Michael Whelan thanked Ms Wastie “for her passion and inspiring leadership”, particularly helping lead the region through the challenging pandemic and into a strong recovery.
“Ali’s strong leadership has helped transform Bass Coast into a fairer, more dynamic and exciting region and positioned the community for continued strong growth in the future,” Cr Whelan said.
But it could be a case of out of paradise and into purgatory for Ms Wastie with Greater Geelong one of the most unsettled municipalities in Victoria. Here’s a troubled timeline from the past decade at Geelong:
* September 2014: CEO Stephen Griffin departs.
* April 2015: CEO Gillian Miles resigns.
* December 2015: Commission of Inquiry appointed.
* April 2016: Mayor Darryn ‘Dazza’ Lyons and council sacked (bullying, governance issues) and administrators appointed.
* October 2017: New council elected.
* November 2017-January 2021: Municipal monitors in place.
* September 2022: CEO Martin Cutter “unexpectedly” departs.
* January 2023: Two municipal monitors appointed (due to concerns by the Chief Municipal Inspector about the CEO recruitment process).
* June 14, 2023: PAEC Committee Member, Bev McArthur MLC queries delay in appointing Geelong CEO.
* Friday, June 23, 2023: Bass Coast CEO Ali Wastie appointed new Geelong CEO.