2020-04-17 Post Election Meeting Agenda

POST ELECTION MEETING AGENDA                                                                             17 APRIL 2020


3                          CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19) PANDEMIC – CEO DECISIONS UNDER DELEGATION
                           20 MARCH 2020 – 14 APRIL 2020

Docum ent in for matio n




Author                                 Chief Executive Officer, Brett de Chastel
                                       CEO’s Office

Index                                  ECM/ Subject/ COVID-19

Attachments                            1.    Schedule of Decisions under CEO Delegation


EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Not applicable.

RECOMMENDATION
That Council note the report by the Chief Executive Officer to the Post Election Meeting dated 17
April 2020 in relation to Council’s response to the Coronavirus COVID-19 Pandemic and note the
decisions made by the Chief Executive Officer under delegated authority for the period 20 March
2020 – 14 April 2020.


REPORT
1                          BACKGROUND

At Council’s Ordinary meeting of 19 March 2020, a Council resolution was passed to delegate to
the Chief Executive Officer the power to make decisions on behalf of Council in relation to any
matters arising from the Coronavirus Pandemic from 19 March until the first Council meeting
following the election. That resolution also required that a report be provided to the first Council
meeting following the election outlining all decisions made by the CEO under that delegation that
would otherwise have been made by Council.

It is important to note that this report is not intended to be a summary of all of the Council’s
responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. It is simply a summary of decisions made by the CEO
pursuant to the Council delegation.

Having the delegation in place enabled our Council to respond quickly to emerging issues.
Anecdotally, I am aware that many other councils did not have something similar in place and have
had difficulty in making quick decisions during recent weeks.

In exercising the delegation, the following principles were applied:
     No decisions would be made that would financially bind the Council beyond 30 June.
      Decisions beyond that time should be made by the Council as part of its budget process.
     Try to stay ahead of the State and Commonwealth decision-making processes so that we
      had a smooth shutdown approach rather than having to quickly react to State or
      Commonwealth directives.
                          No decisions would be made in relation to variation of general rates, special rates and utility
                           charges as they should be matters for the Council to determine.
                          All decisions made took into account the following two goals established for Council during
                           this pandemic:
                           1.    We continue to provide services and support to our community; and
                           2.    We look after our staff.

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