Outgoing Whittlesea council administrator Peita Duncan and former Geelong council municipal monitor Jude Munro have been appointed to oversee the new Whittlesea council.
As reported by Star Weekly, the state government has decided to install municipal monitors at Whittlesea to oversee the new councillors during their first 12 months in office.
The new councillors will be the first elected representatives for Whittlesea council since March 2020, after the state government sacked the former council.
The council was sacked by the government following a report from municipal monitor Yehudi Blacher that found serious governance failures at the council.
Mr Blacher was appointed by the government to oversee the council in December 2019, following the sacking of former chief executive Simon Overland and complaints of bullying at the council.
His report to the government said the governance of the council had collapsed, “along with its reputation”.
He labelled Whittlesea a “broken council” in which “poisons run deep”, and found that the council’s deep divides and personality conflicts had rendered it “dysfunctional”.
Administrators were appointed to the council to perform the duties of councillors until last month’s election, meaning Whittlesea ratepayers were unable to elect councillors at the October 2020 election.
Ms Duncan and Ms Munro will oversee the council from November 6.
The government said they will help prevent the recurrence of issues that led to the council’s dismissal.
Local Government Melissa Horne said ratepayers would expect the newly elected councillors to maintain a high standard of governance.
“These experienced monitors will guide incoming councillors in governance practices to help them best serve their community,” she said.
Laura Michell
