The City of Perth chief executive, Michelle Reynolds, has been sacked after a confidential council meeting, prompting her to accuse the authority of conducting a “witch hunt” and vow to challenge the decision.
Ms Reynolds was formally dismissed on Tuesday night following a four-month investigation into allegations concerning her conduct in the role. She said she had been informed of the decision through her lawyers and would pursue the matter “all the way”.
Speaking at a tearful press conference, she said Lord Mayor Bruce Reynolds, who is not related to her, had not contacted her since she was suspended in May.
“I have not heard personally from the Lord Mayor since I received an email at 11pm at night advising me that I was suspended. I have had no communication at all,” she said.
Ms Reynolds said she had been denied access to City staff and was permitted to speak only to one family member and one support person during the investigation.
“What has happened to me is disproportionate to the allegations that have been made,” she said.
City of Perth council votes to terminate chief executive
Minutes of the closed meeting record a five-to-two vote in favour of “option C in the confidential options report”, without explaining what that option involved. Councillors Catherine Lezer and Adam Pacan opposed the decision, while Vicktor Ko and Raj Doshi were absent.
Ms Reynolds said she would receive no severance pay and had been asked to return her laptop. She said the council would arrange for her belongings to be sent to her home.
In a statement, Mr Reynolds said the council had not taken the decision lightly and that the investigation had examined “a range of matter relating to Ms Reynolds’ conduct in exercising her responsibilities as chief executive officers”.
“Following careful consideration of the investigation findings, and Ms Reynolds’ responses, Council determined that the substantiated findings were sufficiently serious that her employment as chief executive officer should be terminated,” he said.
He said legal, privacy and confidentiality obligations prevented the council from providing further details about the employment matter.
Ms Reynolds rejected the findings, describing the allegations as individually trivial but said they had been presented collectively as serious misconduct. She also raised concerns about how the investigation was commissioned and conducted, and alleged that confidential information had been leaked to the media to damage her reputation.
She accused the council of being dysfunctional and said she had been made a scapegoat. “The allegations and subsequent investigation process have exposed the factionalism between the views of elected members with personal agendas and the effective function of the administration of local government as a multimillion-dollar business,” she said.
Mr Reynolds said interim leadership arrangements would remain in place while the council began recruiting a new chief executive. He said the priority was to provide certainty for employees and ensure the city continued delivering services to the community, businesses and visitors.
Further inquiry into City of Perth governance
Former Perth lord mayor Basil Zempilas described the dismissal as “outrageous” and criticised the decision to remove Ms Reynolds during a closed meeting.
He said ratepayers could face a bill of close to $1 million for the process, although that figure was presented as his estimate. He also criticised Local Government Minister Hannah Beazley for saying the inspector would review the process as part of his inquiry.
Ms Beazley said she had “zero tolerance for dysfunction, zero tolerance for poor governance and zero tolerance for unsustainable financial management”.
The City of Perth is already subject to a further three-month inquiry by Local Government Inspector Tony Brown, costing $120,000. The inquiry was announced after the conclusion of a local government monitor’s term overseeing the council.
Mr Brown said the City of Perth was Western Australia’s flagship local government and therefore needed to lead on governance.
