A PANDEMIC and recession hasn’t stopped Frankston councillors from approving a pay rise for their CEO.
Behind closed doors at their 31 August meeting, councillors endorsed a recommendation for CEO Phil Cantillon to receive a 3 per cent pay increase.
Frankston mayor Sandra Mayer said “this decision was about securing the knowledge, capability, and leadership that Frankston City Council residents need and deserve, particularly during and beyond COVID-19.”
“The committee undertook extensive benchmarking prior to making the recommendation and determined that Mr Cantillon’s annual salary was noticeably lower than the industry standard,” she said. “As outlined in the public meeting minutes, the resolution simply aligns his annual remuneration with that of CEOs from similar sized councils.”
Phil Cantillon was appointed as Frankston Council’s chief executive last year after the departure of former CEO Dennis Hovenden. Council did not provide The Times with the CEO’s current salary, but it is understood that the previous CEO was paid more than $300,000 a year.
The pay rise comes amid a period of unprecedented financial difficulty for Frankston residents. A Grattan Institute study released in June found that 7.9 per cent of jobs in the local Dunkley electorate were lost as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, making the area among the hardest hit in the state (“Frankston hit hard by job losses”, The Times, 9/6/20).
Frankston Council’s annual budget for the 2020/2021 financial year was passed in June. It contained a 2 per cent rate rise for residents, and projected a $9.92 million surplus (“Ratepayers to fund $60 million in new works”, The Times, 9/6/20).
Earlier this year, Frankston councillors approved a COVID-19 support package for residents worth over $6 million. A $200 rate waiver for ratepayers on JobSeeker payments was among the measures they approved.
5 Comments
Obviously we are not all in this together. We have many people not able to work, business not able to operate, people in the private sector who have not had pay raises for years, and this guy gets a 3% pay rise! This is totally out of touch, totally ridiculous, and shows that the Council have no grip on reality.
CEO pay rise would be justified if he is able to save both council and ratepayers costs..this I dont know so would like to see the justification before satisfied.
Shameful timing, Totally irresponsible but not surprising!!
Why else do these people run for council, because they can load their pockets with little scrutiny, insted of rates going up why don’t they challenge themselves to trying to reduce costs! Answer: That’s too hard & creates too much work & stress! It’s easier to appear in the paper & tell everybody how great You are!
Absolutely Disgusting
Why do they need the 9 million surplus? That 9 million would benefit ratepayers more if it was in THEIR pocket.