Spotlight shifts to Moore's leadership style

Council's massive spin department were at it today with the fuzzy warm picture on page 3 of today's SMH. It's a shame with all that tax payer's money Clover Moore can't spin fast enough to cover up her biggest blunder since becoming Lord Mayor. Two CEO's down and Monica Barone (pictures from SMH below) - Acting CEO doesn't look comfortable.

eCouncillor readers are invited to offer alternate captions....

"How long will this picture stay on the Council's web site?" - Ms Barone

above - happier times...

The picture above from Clover Moore's announcement appointing Peter Seamer in Feb 2005 - note now removed from the Council's archived web site. Bit 1984?? Peter who?

Sorry The page you are looking for has either been moved or no longer exists.
Go to http://www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/ or use the search located at the top right hand of this page.

72 hours after Clover Moore swung her bloodied axe yet again to remove a CEO with whom she did not agree, it seems fitting that the spotlight of public attention has shifted to her performance as a Lord Mayor under pressure with two highly demanding jobs. The Sydney Morning Herald on-line poll delivered a decisive verdict on her performance to date:

SMH Reader Poll

Clover Moore as Lord Mayor - Rate Clover's leadership
Excellent - 17%
Average - 21%
Hopeless - 63%
Total Votes: 2623

Noting that a poll of 2623 people is very difficult to manipulate you would expect this result from Telegraph readers who are not Moore's traditional NIMBY supporter base and not the SMH audience.

Meanwhile acclaimed newspaper cartoonist Alan Moir has hit the nail on the head with his brilliant letters page cartoon today depicting two Clover Moore's, one Lord Mayor and the other State MP and shackled together by her signature dog collar. See the Moir cartoon here.

Page 3 of the Sydney Morning Herald canvassed the issues underlying the sacking. We know there is much more to it than the water police site issue. Read the article below:

Council wants chief back, and answers

"People move" Â… Clover Moore, right, with the council's new acting chief executive, Monica Barone. The reasons for her predecessor's departure remain unclear.Photo: Lee Besford
AdvertisementAdvertisement
By Sherrill Nixon Urban Affairs EditorApril 6, 2006

CITY of Sydney councillors have appealed to their chief executive to withdraw his resignation as the council faces a bill of more than $500,000 to pay him out and recruit his replacement.
The Liberals' Shayne Mallard wrote to Peter Seamer yesterday asking him to reconsider his decision to quit, as councillors demanded the Lord Mayor, Clover Moore, explain his sudden exit.
Mr Seamer resigned on Tuesday only 14 months into his five-year contract, the second chief executive to walk out of Town Hall in less than two years.
His unexpected announcement followed a heated council meeting on Monday night at which Cr Moore reprimanded council staff for a planning blunder involving the former water police site at Pyrmont.
While the conflict between the two over this issue was their first public clash, speculation is mounting that it was the last straw following a period of discord.
"We just want to know the truth, we want her to be honest with us as councillors," said the Labor Deputy Mayor, Verity Firth.
Cr Moore yesterday declined to elaborate on the reasons behind the resignation, saying only that she wished Mr Seamer well and would not comment further to respect his privacy.
"People move in this day and age and they change jobs Â… one would like to think that if you have a five-year contract that that's the period you would be there for, but if it doesn't work out, it doesn't work out," she told the Herald.
John McInerney, who is on Cr Moore's independent team, said Mr Seamer was a good chief executive, but the latest discord "wouldn't have been just a one-off".
"He resigned because I believe he felt that his skills and talents were of a different type than what was needed in this particular job," Cr McInerney said.
But Labor, Liberal and Greens councillors turned up the pressure on Cr Moore to explain the circumstances behind what they describe as a forced resignation.
They do not believe the water police error - in which a plan for the site included a building that breached legal conditions and was against community wishes - was a sacking offence.
"This is now, in my view, about her leadership and management style," Cr Mallard said.
"I think he has made a mistake and I think he should reconsider his resignation and withdraw it and the councillors should work through any issues."
Cr Firth sought information from the acting chief executive, Monica Barone, about the payout to be negotiated for Mr Seamer.
The former chief executive Robert Domm was paid $208,000, or nine months' salary, when he left the council three years into a five-year contract following a run-in with Cr McInerney, only months after Cr Moore was elected.
Because he was headhunted from Melbourne, Mr Seamer's payout may be higher - up to two years' salary, or $720,000, plus the $100,000 it would cost to recruit his replacement.
Mr Seamer was well regarded by business. Ken Morrison, NSW executive director of the Property Council, said yesterday he was a "quality person" whose loss would be felt greatly.
He was also praised by the former Victorian premier Jeff Kennett, who worked with Mr Seamer when he was the chief executive of several large councils, before he was appointed to run the $450 million Federation Square project in Melbourne.
"He was thoroughly enjoying the challenge [in Sydney] Â… I can only believe it was a clash of personalities or he felt he was being held back," Mr Kennett told the Herald.
"I think it does raise the issue of whether a person [such as Cr Moore] can actually hold down two senior jobs as a parliamentarian and a lord mayor."

PARTING WORD

'People move on in this day and age and they change jobs and I really can't say any more.'
CLOVER MOORE, Sydney Lord Mayor

'We just want to know the truth [about the resignation], we want her to be honest with us as councillors.'
VERITY FIRTH, Labor Deputy Mayor

'This is now, in my view, about her style of leadership and management Â… I have found him [Seamer] very open and approachable.'
SHAYNE MALLARD, Liberal councillor

'If I was giving a reference, I would have nothing but good comments to make [about Seamer] Â… I can only believe it was a clash of personalities or he felt he was being held back.'
JEFF KENNETT, former Victorian premier

'I just couldn't deal with the level of political interference and the mismanagement of the place by the elected officials.'
ROBERT DOMM, former City of Sydney chief executive who left soon after Cr Moore was elected.