By Bonny Burrows
Council caves in due to local pressure…
Cardinia Shire councillors have overturned a management decision to award its early years management (EYM) tender to Western Australia-based organisation One Tree following heavy campaigning by the local kindergarten community.
A packed public gallery of parents and Kinders Together staff turned out to the council’s 17 July general meeting, hoping to see councillors move a motion to restart the early years management expression of interest (EOI) process. They believe the EOI was “deeply flawed” due to a lack of community consultation.
Instead, after a three-hour debate on the matter in which 35 public questions were heard, councillors voted to accept a notice of motion put forward by Port Ward councillor Ray Brown to appoint Glenn Waverly-based organisation Bestchance as the manager of the three centres previously allocated to One Tree. Bestchance is also the current operator of Officer’s Arena Child and Family Centre.
The decision follows a community information session on Thursday night organised by members of the Keep Kinders Together campaign and a kindergarten meet and greet on Monday where councillors stepped inside their local centres to hear firsthand from concerned staff who feared they would lose their jobs, come 2018.
According to councillors, who had received “countless calls, texts, letters and emails” from concerned parties, it was clear there were three main issues with the process – parents and staff weren’t consulted; One Tree, a WA-based organisation subject to state tribunal disciplinary action, was appointed and local jobs would be lost to interstate workers.
Despite assurances from management staff that the EOI was a “robust and thorough process that would stand up to scrutiny”, and that “we have learnt parents and teachers would like to be consulted” all councillors agreed the community’s concerns were valid.
However, councillors were divided on whether or not to restart the tender process.
Ranges Ward councillor Jeff Springfield said the manner in which the organisations were chosen was “flawed and inadequate” and added he wanted to see the process started again to include the community.
Although, he wasn’t sure if a do-over would result in a different outcome as “I am confident Bestchance outperformed all other candidates”.
Mayor Brett Owen also voted to recommence the expression of interest, saying he thought council had “failed to communicate”.
“As a father myself with a child who goes to kindergarten … I won’t be supporting this process,” councillor Owen said.
“With such big change like this, you need to bring the community with you. If you can’t get it right, you can’t get the end result right”.
However the mayor, Cr Springfield and other councillors wishing to restart the process – Collin Ross and Carol Ryan – were outvoted by their colleagues, with Michael Schilling, Jodie Owen, Leticia Wilmot, Graeme Moore and motion-mover Ray Brown all voting in favour of the “compromise” of cutting One Tree as a provider.
The decision saw the public gallery in tears and disbelief, with parents comforting each other in the hallway of the council chambers.
Group spokesperson Sharyn Ling said council’s motion “still forgot the parent voice”.
“Our kids deserve more, too,” she said.
Speaking to the Gazette the morning after the meeting, Cr Brown said he moved the motion as he was “unhappy with the previous decision of the CEO”, and the fact that One Tree could not provide assurances it would prioritise local workers.
While he acknowledged the community should have been consulted, he wasn’t sure “what questions they could have put in which would have changed the result”.
“I’ve investigated Bestchance and believe they will bring a lot to the table,” Cr Brown said.
“As a community, we must move ahead with our services. To go back to the drawing board and go backwards and forwards would have been unproductive.
“I apologise to those who disagree, but I did what I thought was right.”
As part of the decision, Cardinia Shire CEO Garry McQuillan will now renegotiate the award of the EYM so that Bestchance manages 16 of the shire’s kindergartens, and Early Childhood Management Services (ECMS) manages the under-construction Gum Scrub Creek Early Years Centre.
He will also negotiate job security as a priority with Bestchance, signalling it was looking to retain current Kinders Together staff.
But the fight is not over, with the Keep Our Kinders Together group declaring it “doesn’t accept” council’s decision.
It is now also questioning whether conflict of interest was at play with the appointment of Bestchance after news surfaced that the kindergarten provider’s general manager of early years services, Tracey McKay, had worked as Cardinia Shire Council’s children’s services co-ordinator for four years prior.
“It’s really disappointing that at no stage has the council declared that a lady who used to work in the children’s services department, who was part of making the decision, now works for Bestchance,” member Marita Sheean said.
But Ms McKay told the Gazette she was “not involved” in the Cardinia Shire Council Early Years Management tender and their independent EOI evaluation panel.
“Bestchance is a local not-for-profit organisation with a proud history of providing children and family services for over 120 years,” Ms McKay said.
“In June this year, Bestchance submitted an EOI for the provision of Early Years Management and to provide secondary support services across Cardinia Shire,” Ms McKay said.
Council staff were contacted regarding Ms McKay’s role in the process, but did not respond by deadline.
It is understood councillors were aware of the link between Ms McKay, Bestchance and Cardinia Shire Council, but were satisfied there was no conflict of interest or possible integrity breaches.
The Keep Our Kinders Together group is now discussing possible options to further appeal the decision.
