The local council's new general manager described Glen Innes' local government as a functional and efficient council he doesn't want to overly disrupt in his brief three month tenure.
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Mark Riley, formerly chief of Dubbo's councils, said he had already warmed to the town, which reminds him of his home town of Orange. It's a warm town in a cold place, he said.
A new permanent general manager is to be appointed by August.
He sat down with the Examiner on his second day into the job. He had Adam Marshall in town on day one.
"I've said to the mayor it's probably the most important task that this council will undertake in its term, the recruitment of a general manager," he said.
"You've got to get the right person, a person who fits what they want and that's important.
"My job is to keep the council operating effectively and efficiently during that time.
"Three months isn't a long time and I've certainly said to the council I don't think it's a matter of me coming in and making a whole bunch of changes."
He left Dubbo Regional Council after the former City of Dubbo merged with the Wellington Council. The local paper, the Daily Liberal reported at the time that he'd been given an ultimatum by a coterie of councilors, in a coup that saw Mr Riley compensated $817,473 for last year.
The resignation was the subject of an investigation by the then Minister of Local Government Gabrielle Upton. The investigation has been completed but is confidential, said Mr Riley.
"I left council, we signed a confidentiality agreement, we agreed to terminate the contract by mutual written agreement," he said.
"The council noted my intention to resign for personal reasons and thanked me for (my) outstanding service to the council (said they) will provide a reference and they provided me with a four page reference.
"They wanted to go a different direction, and that's fine. It was a merged entity."
He said the events were blown up in the media.
"It is what it is. If you look around, of all the merged councils I don't think there might be two or three GMs that remain. The turnover after the council elections was quite incredible."
Mr Riley suggested one project he might set at pushing in the brief time he will spend in Glen Innes Severn is progressing the grant application for a multi-million dollar upgrade of Glen Innes' saleyards.
"I think it's time for an upgrade there and certainly in respect of the sheepyards. If I could push that along I think that would be great.
"If I could push the grant funding process and collaborate with government on that I'd be delighted."
The new local government mandarin still has family in Dubbo. He spent last year on leave with his parents.
Former general manager Hein Basson has taken over as GM of the Coonamble shire council. He spent 14 years as the chief officer on the Glen Innes council, guiding it through among other challenges the process of evading amalgamation.
Mr Riley comes to Glen Innes Severn council from the Far North-West joint organisation which assists three rural/remote shires, Bourke, Walgett and Cobar. He worked there from late 2018, and said his biggest priority for the remote shires was getting air services reconnected, which for Walgett and Bourke haven't existed for 12 years.
That role is coming to an end as well, with the north west aiming to hire a local with a genuine connection to the region.
Strictly, Mr Riley is neither acting nor interim general manager, because such designations do not exist in the act. He's got the job with a three month contract. But he said interim is probably the best informal description.
He said hiring the new permanent GM is already in train and the position is being advertised.