Acting CEO coached by mayor’s business ‘partners’

FREMANTLE Acting CEO Glen Dougall is being ‘coached’ by a professional development company closely associated with Mayor Hannah Fitzhardinge’s leadership consultancy Integral.
StreetWise can confirm Mr Dougall receives professional training, funded by the City, from Modal Pty Ltd.
According to  www.integral.global/blog/the-integral-quarterly, Modal directors Ed Benier (below) and Scott Erskine are both ‘Partner Coach’ at Integral, as are ‘Partner Coach – Facilitators’ Claire McKendrick and Colin Kavooris (whose Linkedin page states he has worked part time for Integral since October 2021). Images of the McKendrick and Kavooris appear on Integral’s list of team members, Benier and Erskine do not. Mr Benier confirmed to StreetWise today he is training Mr Dougall.
Asked why his name appears on Integral’s site, he said: “The reason we pop up there is because we are subcontracted to Integral for another piece of work that I’m doing, but my name should not pop up on its site. I have already told them that. Our consultants work with Integral consultants, that’s probably why they come up on their site.”
Mr Benier said the mayor had no involvement in Mr Dougall’s coaching.
“I’m not coaching Mr Dougall for the CEO position, I’m coaching him to be effective as an acting CEO,” he said, referring to Mr Dougall’s previous role as chief financial officer where he was responsible for the City finances, not running an organisation.
City communications and events manager Paul Dunlop told StreetWise: “This type of professional development is standard practice for senior executives across government and the private sector.
“Integral collaborates with various other leadership development providers, including Modal, to deliver larger programs. In the case of the coaching engagement between Modal and the Acting CEO there was no financial relationship or benefit to Integral.”
StreetWise asked Mr Dunlop whether the Mayor had a potential proximity interest or conflict of interest if Modal collaborates closely with her company and whether she should remove herself from the selection panel established in April last year.
Mr Dunlop replied: “Most, if not all CEOs would receive training as part of their professional development so this is no different (and completely unrelated to the CEO recruitment process).
“Again to reinforce, Hannah has also been completely separate from the training process. In the case of the coaching engagement between Modal and the Acting CEO there was no financial relationship or benefit to Integral and Hannah was not involved in that process at all.”
Mr Dunlop added today: “Governance advice is that existence of a proximity interest is established purely by the location of land so not applicable in this situation.” And the conflict of interest question?

Transparency

Mr Dougall was appointed Acting CEO in June after Philip St John resigned in April after five years in the role and one year into his second contract.
Council appointed Rob McDonald as the independent member of the CEO recruitment panel which also includes the Mayor and councillors Jenny Archibald, Geoff Graham and Frank Mofflin, their appointment recorded in the May 21, 2021 minutes at https://bit.ly/3FFlIRL.
Cr Fitzhardinge at no stage since the panel was established declared a conflict of interest with Modal whose employees are listed as ‘partners’ at her consultancy founded in 2006. She also voted on a number of items related to the CEO appointment. At the December 2021 council meeting, Cr Fitzhardinge moved the job description for the CEO position, seconded by Cr Archibald, who also is on the selection panel. Cr Graham voted against the motion.
According to the City of Fremantle’s ‘Guidelines for Local Government CEO Recruitment and Selection, Performance Review and Termination 2021’ at https://bit.ly/3tvLvcN, a local government must select a CEO in accordance with the principles of merit, equity and transparency: “A local government must not exercise nepotism, bias or patronage in exercising its powers. Additionally, a local government must not unlawfully discriminate against applicants.”
Mr Dunlop said candidates for the position could engage their own coaches at their own cost, adding he was not certain whether Mr Dougall would apply to be the next CEO.
The City guidelines state the appointment must be based on merit, skills and experience.
Importantly: “Elected members should declare any previous association with an applicant OR ANY POTENTIAL CONFLICT OF INTEREST at the time of shortlisting if they are part of the selection panel.
“Similarly, if the interviews involve the full council, the elected member should make an appropriate declaration before the interviews commence.
“If the potential conflict of interest is significant or a member’s relationship with an applicant may result in claims of nepotism, patronage or bias, the council may need to consider whether to exclude the elected member from the process. The decision should be documented and recorded for future reference.”