Ipswich City Council has resolved to appoint Sean Madigan as the new Chief Executive Officer.
In a unanimous vote conducted at a special meeting this morning, Mr Madigan’s promotion to the top job was approved despite speculation they would hire an external candidate.
Mr Madigan is currently employed as the council’s Chief Operating Officer of Health Security and Regulatory Services, and has a background working in the Department of Environment and Heritage Protection as well as the Queensland Police Service.
Mayor Andrew Antoniolli said the recruitment process, led by McArthur Recruitment found that Mr Madigan was the most meritorious candidate.
“Our newly appointed CEO brings with him a lot of energy and a lot of skills, particularly in leadership,” Cr Antoniolli said.
“He’s exemplified those skills already in our Council and I believe he is a great choice and a very welcomed choice by all our staff.”
Mayor Antoniolli said Mr Madigan’s record within the Council bears “no shadow” and hopes the public does not affiliate him with former corruption scandals.
“This job has been awarded on merit, make no mistake in that,” he said.
“We recognise that people might have a perception issue with somebody who’s been working within our Council but I think people will agree when they look at the record of Sean; his police service record, not a shadow, his service record with the Department of Environment and Heritage Protection, not a shadow and certainly his time here on Council there’s no integrity issues that anybody can suggest in relation to Sean.”
Mr Madigan said he was keen to promote a higher standard of professionalism within his new role of CEO.
“I’ll be conducting a full review of all of our internal policies and procedures and modelling them off the consistency you get in the State [Government].. bringing that level of maturity and professionalism to local government,” Mr Madigan said.
“I also want to bring a higher level of professionalism overall to Council.
“It shouldn’t be about us as bureaucrats, it shouldn’t necessarily be about the elected officials.
“It’s about the community that we serve and that should be the touchstone that we go back to. “What we need to do is embed that culture throughout our organisation.”
The position has been vacant since January after Jim Lindsay was stood down from charges laid by Queensland’s corruption watchdog.
Mayor Antoniolli thanked outgoing acting CEO, Gary Kellar for his stewardship over the past five months.
“The acting CEO has been exceptional,” Cr Antoniolli said.
“Without Gary’s stewardship over the past six to seven months, I think we’d all be slightly floundering.
“I certainly think Gary has put us on the road map to the future and helped to establish a solid base for Sean to commence as the new CEO.”
Mr Madigan will officially commence his duties as CEO on May 30th.