Financial issues and 12-month microscope could cause ‘headwinds’ in CEO hunt, Coolgardie president says

The financial issues and 12-month microscope the Shire of Coolgardie is under might cause “headwinds” during the upcoming chief executive recruitment process, president Paul Wilcox says, but he is determined to put the shire’s best foot forward. Cr Wilcox said the council had chief executive recruitment training coming up this month which would help get the ball rolling on the search for a new chief, a role which has been temporarily filled by Aaron Cook since the shire terminated the employment of former CEO James Trail. With Mr Cook’s contract coming to an end at the end of the year, Cr Wilcox said it was important to start developing the job description for the new CEO, which would be endorsed by council. Given the timeframe, he said it was likely the shire would have to rely on another acting chief while the process got under way, as it was not expected to be a quick recruitment process. He said it was not yet known if Mr Cook would stay on past his current end date, or what council’s preference was, but that would be explored in coming meetings. “The employment market for CEOs in this sort of a capacity is very tight and someone who we are going to want is probably already going to be working for someone else,” he said. “So there’s going to be restrictions there and then you can’t avoid the fact that we’ve been given this 12-month timeframe, and then there’s going to be quite a match up, I guess, between maybe when the CEO recruitment finishes and then when this decision is made. “So I think there are some headwinds there, people will be aware of the situation we are in. “But I hope in the coming months, under (Mr Cook’s) guidance and some new leadership we can put a bit of a fresh foot forward and get some runs on the board so that people are looking at us and saying ‘well this is the timeframe that’s been given . . . but the indications are looking positive’.” He said it was important council sat down and looked at what skill set was most important for the shire to have in its immediate future. “CEOs is a very broad skill set, some are more community-development minded, some are more financial, some are in between,” he said. “So it’s important to work out our priorities and balance we need. “And then we have to think about whether we’re going to insist on someone who has actually been a CEO, or are we going to think about an executive manager that wants that, but doesn’t have the opportunity where they are at the moment.”