Lobby’s right call on admins’ term

Committee for Geelong could seek an extended term for Geelong’s council administrators, according to its chairman.
The committee would “reserve the right” to call for an extension if it believed that the three administrators had more work to do at City Hall, Dan Simmonds said.
The scale of the job meant the administrators “must be given the time”, he said.
The Andrews Government appointed the administrators after sacking Geelong’s council in April amid claims of bullying at City Hall.
The government initially tried to sack the council until 2020 but a public outcry led to the Coalition and Greens blocking the move in the Upper House. The government then announced a new council election in October 2017.
The committee describes itself as an “independent, member-based organisation committed to leading and influencing to achieve our strategic objectives for Geelong”.
Geelong’s council was on the committee for 12 years before tearing up its $22,000 annual membership in 2013. Then deputy mayor Bruce Harwood attributed the split to a “shift in direction” for each organisation.
The committee appears to have a closer relationship with the council’s replacements. Administrators chair Dr Kathy Alexander wrote last week that she was “looking forward” to hearing from the committee about its tour of overseas ‘second cities’ facing similar challenges as Geelong.
One of Dr Alexander’s co-administrators, Peter Dorling, was executive director of the committee from August 2001 to February 2013.