Town of Cambridge appoints interim Acting CEO

Published on 13 June 2018

In February 2018 the Town of Cambridge Council appointed independent lawyers Hall and Wilcox to conduct an investigation into alleged serious and long term governance failures at the Town. These allegations related to failures to comply with the requirements under the Town Planning Scheme in relation to setbacks in City Beach and Floreat and failure to have adequate delegations of authority in place, as required by the Local Government Act 1995. 

The final Hall and Wilcox report was provided to elected members on Thursday, 7 June 2018 as a confidential item, and was also provided to the Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries.

The report found that the Town has now addressed the failures raised in the report and made a number of recommendations to strengthen the Town’s internal processes going forward.  The Town and its residents can be confident that these issues have now been addressed and the recommendations will be implemented. The Council is fully committed to improving standards of governance and transparency.

At the same June meeting, the Town appointed Mr John Giorgi, JP to the position of Acting Chief Executive Officer, effective immediately.  This appointment allows Mr Lyon to return to his role as Director of Corporate and Strategic Services and continue to finalise 2018/19 budget.  The Council would like to thank Mr Lyon for his services whilst in role of Acting CEO.  The Council and the Town’s Executive fully support the Mr Giorgi, JP in his new interim role. 

Mr Giorgi has considerable knowledge and experience in local government, serving as the inaugural CEO at the City of Vincent for almost 20 years.  Prior to Vincent, Mr Giorgi was the Head of Health Services at the City of Perth for 10 years.  During his time at the Town of Cambridge, Mr Giorgi was the Project Director of the Local Government Reform Project and for the last three years has held the position of Manager Health and Compliance Services.  Mr Giorgi is well placed to undertake the interim role of Acting CEO.  The Council and the Town's Executive and Administration wish Mr Giorgi the best and look forward to working positively together.