A former Cathaoirleach of Mayo County Council has called on the Minister for the Environment to fill the position of county manager from within the ranks of the council. According to Councillor Joe Mellett this will save the council €100,000 annually.
The normal protocol is that first an acting county manager will be appointed by the Minister and the position of county manager will then be advertised after about three months. However Cllr Mellett says that as far as he is aware, there is no limit on the length of time an acting county manager can run the business of the county.
Cllr Mellett said that the appointment of one of the current directors of service to the position would create a vacancy which itself should be filled by the senior executive engineers or senior executive officers “all of whom are well capable of filling the vacancy”. The saving in salary to the council of over €100,000 would be of immense benefit in the forming of the 2010 Budget, added the Swinford councillor.
Cllr Mellett has now written to the Minister for the Environment and the Minister for Finance and hopes that they see the logic of his proposal. He said while his proposal may be unprecedented we are living in extraordinary times.
