Redland City Council may have gone against principles of the Local Government Act when it changed a hiring process for a $500,000 CEO job in a secretive meeting, according to multiple sources with local governance experience.
The bayside south-east Queensland council appointed an internal applicant, Louise Rusan, to the $500,000 role in February last year, despite her not being shortlisted by an independent recruiter or being chosen by a panel as a top candidate.
Leaked documents obtained by this masthead showed a process where a staffer who reported to then acting CEO Rusan chaired the panel, and a decision made in a closed-door meeting, forbidden by council policy, altered the agreed-upon recruitment process. This masthead is not suggesting any wrongdoing on the part of Louise Rusan, just that there were irregularities with the hiring process that saw her installed as council CEO.
Multiple sources with experience in local government processes, granted anonymity to discuss the sensitive matter as they still work in the sector, said the process was worrying, and may not have complied with the principles of the Local Government Act.
The five principles of the act are that councils must ensure processes are transparent and effective, follow good governance, make sure councillors behave ethically and legally, have sustainable development and have democratic representation.
Two sources said it could be argued the council went against at least the first three of those principles by failing to act transparently, and three said it was unusual that the mayor did not chair the selection process.
One source said the second two principles, relating to good governance and ethical behaviour, may also not have been fully complied with.
A council spokesperson was unable to respond on Thursday afternoon about whether the principles were broken, but said they would reply on Friday.
The documents show that a closed-door meeting decided to wedge Rusan into a final-round interview, going against a council policy that decisions cannot be made in such meetings.
The change irked long-time councillor Wendy Boglary, who wrote to integrity experts employed by the council.
“I am concerned that this deviation from the agreed process, including an inappropriate vote, may have influenced the selection outcome,” she said in an email obtained by this masthead.
In November 2024, the council voted in favour of a process where a panel consisting of mayor Jos Mitchell, deputy mayor Julie Talty, and two external members, and chaired by acting head of human resources Micah Beaumont, would recommend preferred candidates to present to the council.
That occurred, but following presentations by the two chosen candidates, council decided to eliminate one of the preferred candidates and to hear from Rusan, in a meeting that excluded the independent panel members.
“The majority of councillors supported [the other preferred candidate] but requested to hear from the third ranked candidate, being Louise Rusan,” Beaumont, who reported to Rusan as acting CEO, wrote to the panel following the meeting.
It is unclear how Rusan became the third ranked candidate despite not being on a shortlist for the job.
In her email to the audit and risk committee, Boglary said the altered process opened the recruitment up to political interference.
“Given this was strongly driven by a councillor, deputy mayor Julie Talty, it could be perceived as political influence, which, in my opinion, undermines the principles of good governance,” she said, seeking advice about “how to manage the impending risks associated with this recruitment process”.
Deputy mayor Julie Talty, who has served on the council since 2012, is yet to respond to questions from this masthead.
Wendy Boglary also refused to comment, other than to say her issue was not with Rusan’s appointment but the process behind it.
A council spokesperson said the process followed the organisation’s recruitment guidelines, which do not stop employees with working relationships from being on the panel, but does include conflict of interest provisions.
The head of human resources – the position Beaumont was acting in – also chaired the recruitment panel the last time the council selected a new CEO in 2017, the spokesperson said.
State secretary for The Services Union Queensland, who represents workers at the council, Neil Henderson said the process for hiring such a well-paid and important position must be “fair, rigorous and transparent”.
“The public should be able to have absolute confidence that persons recruited for such a high paying important role are the best available for the job,” he said.
Local government minister Anne Leahy would not say whether the state should take action at the council, but said the hiring of a CEO was a matter for the council.
A governance advisor was appointed at the council in late 2025 following a year of infighting at the council that saw more than 10 per cent of complaints to the state council watchdog generated from the Redlands.
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