Dear valued subscriber,
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
It's been a week like no other.
Less than a month ago then-Warrnambool City Council chief executive officer Peter Schneider vowed to work hard to win back public confidence in the organisation after poor customer satisfaction survey results.
This week he was sacked behind closed doors. The job of restoring ratepayers' trust and confidence in the council is now immeasurably more difficult.
Public reaction to the 4-3 termination vote has been negative, largely because those who voted out Mr Schneider say confidentiality grounds prohibit them from fully explaining the reasons and financial ramifications.
Ratepayers are demanding answers. They want to know why councillors have thrown away who knows how much in a financial settlement to a man who was only 18 months into a four-year contract. They want to know why this can happen after they were slugged higher rates last year when the council received permission from the state government to do so because it could not afford a growing maintenance backlog. Ratepayers also know the council has deferred a second year of rate increases above the state government cap and more hip-pocket pain is coming their way.
Former long-time councillors expressed their disappointment this week, one saying current councillors needed to stop behaving like children and another saying the sacking was the first in the region's history.
Director Vikki King has been appointed interim CEO for up to 12 months with the job of finding a new permanent chief left to a new council after elections in October.
But will elections actually go ahead? The Municipal Association of Victoria this week renewed calls for elections to be deferred because of COVID-19 impacts.
Who would want to run for council in October knowing they have an enormous job ahead to help restore public confidence? With a series of independent investigations into the council's operations yet to be finalised including one from the ombudsman, things could get worse before they get better. The four councillors who voted out the CEO say all councillors need to move forward and work together for the city's best interests in their remaining few months but mayor Tony Herbert has so far been silent on whether he believes that can happen. He is not opposed to all councillors standing down after an MP called for that to happen. That came after we revealed two community, independent members of a committee that assesses the CEO's performance, resigned.
Ratepayers elected councillors to act in their best interests. Some feel they didn't this week but others are backing their judgement.
Before trust can be restored, the council needs fresh air from investigations and personal politics.
Delaying the CEO appointment makes sense until investigations are completed. As for councillors, they need to work hard together for the city and citizens and salvage something from this mess before we go to the polls. The alternative is to stand down and delay elections while an independent monitor is brought in while the clean-up operation is completed, allowing for the fresh start.
But delaying the democratic process, like axing a CEO, is a big step that ratepayers won't view kindly.
City council news has dominated the agenda this week. Other stories to make headlines include the council revealing it will spend more than $40,000 on planting palm trees at the city's northern entrance. Councillors are seeking a report on future options for the city's biggest tourist attraction Flagstaff Hill, including selling off the site.
Our coronavirus-free run came to an end this week with first a new Warrnambool case being confirmed, then two in Portland and another in Colac. With South West Healthcare not aware of the Warrnambool case, speculation has been rife it may relate to someone from Warrnambool who now lives in Melbourne. It highlighted the anomalies with the postcode identification system - driver's licence address of a person. We spoke with the Premier on Friday about more information, without breaching confidentiality, being provided about regional cases to avoid unnecessary concern which could impact people getting tested.
We have to remain vigilant and Premier Daniel Andrews on Friday urged regional Victorians to wear face masks or cover their mouth and nose with scarves when out shopping where we may not be able to guarantee social distancing.
A year after losing daily passenger flights to and from Melbourne, the south-west is about to get a new air service for Warrnambool, Hamilton and Portland.
It was great to see junior football and netball return yesterday - some light at the end of the tunnel. But the protocols in place for players, officials and spectators are a reminder the pandemic is far from over.
The feel-good story of the week was this piece about our rescue helicopter service which has performed six high-risk winch rescues in six weeks. As one senior police officer asked - where would we be without it? The community campaign from more than a decade ago was well worth it.
There were some spectacular winter afternoons and sunsets this week. Our photographer Mark Witte captured the one above at Thunder Point.
There were also some eerie, foggy mornings. George El-Hage, an avid reader of The Standard and budding photographer took this shot in the botanic gardens earlier in the week.
Here's a selection of other stories that made headlines this week.
Stay safe.
Until next week,