THE $300,000 employment contract of Mornington Peninsula Shire CEO Michael Kennedy is valid, says Local Government Victoria.
Doubts held by the Ombudsman over the validity of the contracts awarded to Dr Kennedy by councillors in 2004 and 2008 were late last year sent for investigation by the State Government solicitor by Local Government Minister Richard Wynne.
Questions about the contract were first raised with the Ombudsman, George Brouwer, by Tyabb ratepayers. In his report, Mr Brouwer also criticised the shire's process of dealing with requests made under freedom of information legislation.
The shire then agreed to change its practices and provide counselling to its corporate support manager Noel Buck, but avoided doing the same for Dr Kennedy.
The CEO was not available for comment yesterday and the shire's communications manager Todd Trimble said the mayor, Cr David Gibb, did not wish to comment on the statements of Local Government Victoria.
The shire issued a news release stating that "Local Government Victoria has confirmed that the minister for local government has received advice from the Victorian Government Solicitor's office in relation to the validity of the contracts of employment of Mornington Peninsula Shire Council's chief executive officer.
"Local Government Victoria accepts that the chief executive officer's 2004 contract must be regarded as valid and, accordingly, no question arises in regard to the validity of the 2008 contract.
"The acting executive director Colin Morrison advised that the minister for local government does not intend to take any further action in relation to the issue."
Local Government Victoria was also reluctant to comment further, with its spokeswoman confirming that "Yes, the CEO contracts for 2004 and 2008 are valid. Advice and correspondence between LGV, the Victorian Government Solicitor's office and council are confidential matters".
However, the findings are unlikely to silence critics of the shire.
Mornington MP David Morris said: "While that advice appears to clarify the position of the contract, I am not sure whether it covers all the matters raised in the Ombudsman's report. Until and unless the report becomes available publicly it is not possible to know whether other issues were raised, and whether they have also been the subject of legal advice."
Hastings MP Neale Burgess said: "In my view, the contract is either valid or it's not. Either way, the community should have been informed of the outcome a long time ago. Either the CEO is validly employed, in which case life goes on, or he is not, in which case the council must act urgently to secure the best CEO available. Delay only causes more damage to all concerned."
David Chalke, one of the Tyabb residents whose inquiries prompted the Ombudsman's investigation, said: "I'd prefer to see the full text of the advice rather than make a detailed comment on a press release from the shire's PR department.
"That said, the wording is strange. It is unclear what the phrase 'the contract must be regarded as valid' actually means; it is oddly qualified. The contract either meets the requirements of the Local Government Act or it does not."
While the findings of the government solicitor secure the basis on which the CEO is employed, the exercise has led to much introspection within the shire.
Initially, councillors were upset that the then mayor Anne Shaw had not told them about the Ombudsman's report and recommendations for change in dealing with freedom of information applications and urging counselling for Dr Kennedy and Mr Buck.
While new mayor David Gibb has been quick to quell any discontent among ratepayer groups, the reaction from the Ombudsman has shown that the shire has not been a perfectly run machine.
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