Dubiously-appointed former Huon Valley Council General Manager Jason Browne, who then left shot through after poor performance, is now in line for a plum job at two northern Tasmanian councils.
Current Latrobe Councillor Claudia Baldock has slammed the proposed appointment as ‘not in the public interest’.
“The candidate does not have a good history or one that can be explained by third party consultants,” she said in a statement issued today.
“The process of selection having been outsourced without input or adequate scrutiny from the councillors makes a mockery of the Local Government Act provisions about the appointment of a General Manager,” she said. “The councillors are not getting a say and are getting forced into a decision.”
“I have had enough of the bullying and intimidation practices, the toxic workplace and the mismanagement of ratepayers funds which are all wrapped up in the staff selection process,” Baldock continued.
“This entire process flies in the face of transparency and openness within local government.”
Read the full statement – CLAUDIA BALDOCK: Enough is Enough!
When the controversial Browne departed the Huon Valley Council GM’s position on 3 October 2023 Mayor Sally Doyle issued a media release stating in part:
“The Huon Valley Council will be farewelling Jason Browne following his resignation from the position of General Manager, after two years in the role. Mr Browne’s last day with Council will be Tuesday 3 October 2023.”
Pointedly there was no mention of a reason, however Tasmanian Times had previously reported that following an unsatisfactory GM performance review, Jason Browne was given the option to resign or to be dismissed.
An account of Browne’s history within the Huon Valley Council is detailed here.
Tasmanian Times has since received information that Browne is now the ‘preferred candidate’ for the position of General Manager with the Latrobe and Kentish Councils jointly, a position that will be vacated in early June 2024. The GM position was advertised across Tasmanian media and online from December 2023 through to January 2024.
A decision to appoint Browne is imminent, but it is once again not without considerable controversy.
Councillor Baldock cut to the chase when she asked: “why are Latrobe and Kentish Councils being pushed to secretly fast track a vote for a new General Manager?”
Given his public persona and notoriety, and then with his history being outed, Tasmanian Times considers reporting of this ongoing saga is still very much in the public interest; given previous missteps in the Huon Valley, Browne’s appointment to the Kentish and Latrobe Councils is of potential harm to the community.
The GM recruitment committee who shortlisted the candidates consisted of Mayor Peter Freshney (Latroble), Mayor Kate Haberle (Kentish) and two councillors from each council.
The councillors involved in this GM recruitment process have been told they must not conduct their own informal reference checks due to ‘privacy’, and that all copies of notes and reports following the interviews are to be destroyed.
Browne has provided the recruitment committee with the names of the only two possible referees. Their respective references reported favourably on his integrity, interpersonal skills, people skills, leadership, strategic thinking and strong communication skills. His leadership style is described as collaborative, flexible and inclusive and that he has demonstrated his ability to work closely with other councillors and key stakeholders.
Following his unsatisfactory GM performance review Browne chose to resign rather than be dismissed, and for some as yet unexplained reason, he received a golden handshake accompanied with a legal non-disclosure agreement.
When a public question was put to the Mayor about the amount of the payout, Huon Valley Council’s response was “Any costs associated with the departure of the General Manager are confidential personnel matters.”
On 30 October Tasmanian Times forwarded a Right to Information request to the Huon Valley Council in pursuit of further information pertaining to all the costs associated with the flawed GM recruitment process, to include recruitment, legal fees, his severance payment and the subsequent councillor training around conflict of interest. Council responded in part to these questions, however refused to reveal the extent of the ratepayer funded payout.
Council’s stated reasons under the Right to Information Act 2009 were twofold.
- In relation to the amount of any payout, Council referenced section 32 of the Act where information related to closed meetings of council is exempt.
- Their second reason to refuse this information referenced section 12 of the Act in that this information will ultimately be provided in the 2023/2024 Annual Report of Council within 12 months of the requested information.
Coinciding with the initial decision, Council’s Right to Information officer departed the same day that she provided her decision.
Tasmanian Times then requested an internal review of the decision and on 24 November 2023 received correspondence from Council’s Director Legal and Governance Matthew Grimsey, where he upheld the decision made by the former delegated RTI Officer.
On 6 December the Tasmanian Ombudsman acknowledged acceptance of our request for an external review, and on 17 January 2024 confirmed their office was satisfied that the Ombudsman had jurisdiction to review this matter and the application was accepted pursuant to section 44 of the Act.
The Ombudsman also advised:
“If there is a compelling need for your application to be expedited, the Ombudsman has a Priority Policy and you may make an application under that policy for your new review request to be given priority over older requests.”
On 24 January 2024 Tasmanian Times pursued the Priority Policy for the reasons of any payout amount afforded the now departed GM is a matter of ratepayer monies, the entire GM recruitment process and the subsequent employment of Jason Browne was the subject of considerable media interest, that the amount of his payout was not known to all Councillors so was therefore not a matter of any Closed Council discussion; and further that the 2023/2024 Annual Report will not be published until 11 December 2024 which is more than the 12 month period from the date of our 30 October 2023 RTI application.
On 28 February 2024 Ombudsman Tasmania issued a preliminary review and advised they will try to resolve the issues in this matter and to ascertain if agreement can be reached in relation to this matter, and that depending on Council’s response, a formal decision of the Ombudsman may not be required. The Deputy Ombudsman stated that the Council could only rely on section 12 to refuse to provide the outstanding information, if the information would be published in the Council’s annual report within 12 months of the date of your application, being on or before 30 October 2024.
They advised they were therefore deferring a decision on whether priority processing will be approved until a further response is received from the Council. A response was requested from Council within 14 business days which was Wednesday 20 March 2024.
To the day, 14 business days later, the recently appointed CEO Lachlan Kranz wrote to Ombudsman Tasmania on 20 March 2024.
The Deputy Ombudsman further stated that;
“Mr Lachlan Kranz, Chief Executive Officer of the Council, responded on 20 March 2024. Mr Kranz confirmed that the information would be contained in the Council’s 2023/2024 annual report, and the draft annual report would be approved at a meeting of the Council on 30 October 2024. He also indicated that in accordance with the requirements of the Local Government (Meeting Procedures) Regulations 2015, the draft annual report would be made publicly available at least 4 days before that meeting, i.e., by 25 October 2024, at the latest. Your application for information was made on 30 October 2023, so this is within 12 months of that date.
“The Deputy Ombudsman’s preliminary view is that the Council has validly refused to provide the remaining information requested under item 4 of your application because the requirements of section 12(3)(c)(ii) of the Act have been met.
“The information will be published in the Council’s 2023/2024 annual report and the draft annual report will be made publicly available within 12 months of your application.
“While was is (sic) open to Council under the Act to provide this information at an earlier date, it is also open to Council to rely upon s12(3)(c)(ii) to refuse to do so and the Ombudsman does not have the power to direct this to occur in those circumstances.”
On 2 April 2024 Tasmanian Times advised the Ombudsman Tasmania that the Huon Valley Council does indeed provide a draft copy of their Annual Report in the final days of October each year, however that it must be noted that the draft reports provided in 2021, 2022 and 2023 did not include financial information.
The financial information is not provided in the Annual Reports until it is independently audited and approved by Councillors in time for the December AGM, which in this case is scheduled for 11 December 2024.
Therefore, the information will not be provided within the 12-month period of our RTI as has been asserted by the CEO.
The matter of Browne’s termination/resignation payout amount is now pending with Ombudsman Tasmania.
Information so far obtained from Huon Valley Council through the RTI process around the flawed GM process costs include (excluding any payout)
- Recruitment fees Red Giant $25,703.40,
- Legal fees Edge Legal $18,293
- Legal fees Simmons Wolfhagen $7,273.20.
- Conflict of Interest training for councillors provided by WLF Accounting and Advisory $7,920
- Simmons Wolfhagen were again engaged to provide legal advice on the termination/resignation of Browne at an additional $7.408.50.
All up a total of $66,598 of ratepayers’ monies excluding any termination/resignation payment for a completely flawed GM recruitment process and a total of two satisfactory or failed GM performance reviews during his two year term. Browne failed his first annual performance review in October 2022 and the then Acting Mayor Sally Doyle said … “the performance of the General Manager, Jason Browne, has been satisfactory based on the score of 6 out of 10.”
However, despite a merely satisfactory score, Browne received a 6.5% pay rise which amounted to an increase of $13,000. The increase saw his remuneration package climb to $259,175.
Whether Browne is appointed to the GM position at the Latrobe and Kentish Councils is now a matter of the elected councillors hopefully in the full knowledge of the issues in the Huon Valley, and whether Browne’s performance is an improvement over his documented failures with the Huon Valley Council, is now a matter for Browne.
Further documented details on the history of this ongoing saga are available via the links below.
Calls For HVC Mayor To Stand Down over Clouded General Manager Resignation
Bob Hawkins
April 9, 2024 at 10:00
Thanks again Tasmanian Times, for keeping us in touch with local government affairs in the Huon Valley. It’s eternally gobsmacking what passes for “integrity” in our state. I’ve given up trying to draw the public’s attention to just how messed up we are. Now, I inwardly groan that, “Well, that’s just Tasmania being what it is”, and get on with my life.
In the meantime, few ratepayers in the Huon valley will open their mouths to complain about the way its council consistently and continually wastes their money. It first came to my attention back in the late Noughties (I think it was 2008) that, in blurred type in council minutes, about $6 Million had been lost through investments in risky financial ventures. Years of obfuscation followed until the issue died an unnatural death. But council’s incompetence seemed to continue, no one in the hierarchy having any authority (or desire) to stop it.
I hope the new regime in Huonville is taking steps to bring some kind of order to local government affairs. One can but hope.
Andrews John
April 11, 2024 at 20:00
The more I hear the words ‘accountability’ and ‘transparency’, the more I know there’s a black bag being placed over the public’s head, complete with inbuilt earmuffs.
Public officials, public monies and public activities need to be public – immediately.