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Tuesday 21 July 2020
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No masking this business success PROTECTIVE face masks are now compulsory and students in the Mornington Secondary College VCAL class are being credited with making an astute business decision. They are making face masks to tackle COVID-19 under the name: STS – or Stop the Spread – as well as learning about running a business. Teacher Anne-Marie Burnet said the year 11 students had set themselves up in a “factory” divided into various departments, such as marketing, sales and production to make the washable cloth masks, and business is booming. Part of their marketing philosophy is showing younger teens that it’s cool to wear masks, with plans to make them in school colours for the classroom. Ms Burnet said the students were taking their roles “very seriously”. “The students didn’t realise the size of the need,” she said. “So far they have made 150 with another 40 due by Monday morning 20 July. One woman ordered 14.” The turnaround time is 36 hours. The $6 masks in adults and children’s sizes are made of cotton in three layers. They are washable and can be folded to fit inside a pocket or purse. Order masks at: stop.the.spread3@ gmail.com
Stitched up: Mornington Secondary College VCAL students Connor O’Neil, Max Walker and Kai Robinson are combining business with study by making protective face masks. Picture: Gary Sissons
Move to curb CEO’s ‘bonus’ powers Keith Platt keith@mpnews.com.au MORNINGTON Peninsula Shire councillors want the state government to rein in the power of municipal chief executive officers to prevent bonuses being secretly given to staff. Under the current rules CEOs can grant bonuses to staff without telling councillors, residents or ratepayers. Council CEOs are the only council officers appointed and controlled by councillors. All other council staff are under the jurisdiction of the CEO. Cr David Gill told The News that the shire’s current CEO, John Baker, had not awarded any bonuses to staff.
However, a previous CEO who he declined to name, had provided bonuses to individual officers “of $40,000 and up to $60,000”. The 2019/20 budget shows staff costs comprise $82.1 million of the shire’s total expenses of $191.7m. “We all have the right to know how our rates and any other income is spent,” Cr Gill said. “A former CEO of the shire has apparently been able to pay huge bonuses without the knowledge of council. “I believe that the council of the time set up a mechanism to prevent bonus payments being paid without their knowledge, but that was seemingly ignored.”
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Councillors at the 14 July meeting (held online) agreed with Cr Gill that the Local Government Minister Shaun Leane be asked to “review … the situation where chief executive officers of municipalities in Victoria have extraordinary powers to give confidential large yearly bonuses to selected staff … and is apparently entirely at their sole discretion”. Mr Leane was appointed local government minister in June following the sacking by the Premier Daniel Andrews of Adem Somyurek amid allegations of branch stacking and offensive language. The request was also made to Local Government Victoria and Victorian
Auditor-General’s Office and listed for adoption by other councils at the next state conference of the Municipal Association of Victoria. The shire’s letter to the minister will state that the powers given by the government to CEOs “lacks transparency and accountability and creates apprehension of outcomes that may not be in the community interest”. Comments made on the agenda by an unnamed officer said there were “mechanisms” already built into the system to stop the CEO telling council if any bonuses had been granted. “Therefore, it is the officer position that such oversight does not require any legislative or state policy change,
with mechanisms to address the concerns raised presently available within the existing legislative and policy framework,” the unnamed officer stated.” The officer stated that council could ask to be told about any performancebased bonuses and if they had been appropriately assessed. The officer then stated that “council officers will be seeking clarity regarding what points of advocacy are to be raised and specifically what changes are sought” if councillors asked Mr Leane to curb the powers of CEOs. Councillors voted unanimously to approach Mr Leane, the auditor general and other municipalities.
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