The sorry saga of the City of Canning’s CEO woes is over, with the City announcing former City of Stirling director Michael Littleton as its Chief Executive.
The City has been without a chief executive since Arthur Kyron was told in late 2020 that his contract would not be renewed.
What followed was one of the most embarrassing eras in the City’s history, as the selection process for the new CEO was stopped in its tracks in May when information available only to the CEO selection panel was leaked to a candidate, leading to Mayor Patrick Hall referring the city to both the Corruption and Crime Commission and the Department of Local Government on allegations of serious misconduct.
The investigation was ultimately unsuccessful with the CCC finding no evidence of serious misconduct and Mr Hall forced to apologise to council after breaching the local government act during a May 2021 special council meeting on the issue.
However, the process is now back online, and at a council meeting on March 15, councillors voted unanimously to offer a $360,000, five-year contract to a candidate, with the name of the candidate kept confidential.
That name has now been revealed as Michael Littleton, described by the City as a a highly experienced executive having served in the local government sector for more than 20 years, and since 2014 as a Director at the City of Stirling – Perth’s largest local government by population.
Mayor Patrick Hall, the Chair of Council’s CEO Selection Panel, said he is looking forward to working closely with Mr Littleton.
“The CEO recruitment process illustrated the City of Canning’s standing in the local government sector, attracting a large field of highly credentialed candidates from both the public and private sectors,” he said.
“The City attracted a number of immensely impressive candidates with Council deciding unanimously that Mr Littleton was the stand-out applicant in that field.
“There has been a renewed focus on the City of Canning as a strategic centre in Perth’s south-east corridor – by both the State and Federal governments.”
“With the $85M City Centre Project and the $32M Football Centre in Queens Park taking shape, elevated rail along the Armadale line commencing in 2023, Metronet making inroads through Canning Vale, and a number of significant local projects on the horizon, our new CEO will commence his tenure at a very exciting time for this City.”
Mayor Hall also thanked Interim CEO Stephen Cain for his service.
“I would like to personally extend my thanks and gratitude to Stephen Cain for agreeing to perform the role of Interim CEO over the past nine months and for guiding this Council with safe hands at a time when safe hands were most needed.”
Michael Littleton will commence in the role on 23 May 2022.
