By Larraine Sathicq and Jeremy Cook
The appointment of an acting chief executive at Scenic Rim Regional Council has prompted questions surrounding the whereabouts and absence of permanent CEO David Keenan.
Almost all councillors moved to discuss the matter behind closed doors at a special meeting called for 5 October, where general manager for council sustainability Oliver Pring was appointed by a majority to step in temporarily.
Only Division 1 Councillor Amanda Hay objected to the proposal.
Mr Keenan spent five years as CEO of Southern Downs Regional Council and has been in his current job less than a year, taking up the position of chief executive at Scenic Rim council in November 2022 after leaving Mount Isa City Council.
With rumours abounding as to the whereabouts of Mr Keenan, Scenic Rim Mayor Greg Christensen said he believed the keen AFL player was away playing sport.
“The CEO is certainly on leave,“ he said.
“I think I saw on Linkedin where he’s actually playing at a national championships right at the moment.“
Speculation was rife, with some suggesting the council was aware Mr Keenan would not be back because he had been stood down.
Mayor Christensen said the meeting to appoint an interim CEO was simply part of a contingency plan.
“Historically, we’ve had a contingency that said over the course of the year if the CEO is not available for that period of time,“ he said.
“Just so that if you have anything that happens, someone is sick on a day when we have to be able to continue to deal with the business of council. We’ve just put this back in place to make sure we’ve got our insurance policy.“
Asked whether the meeting was called based on the expectation that Mr Keenan would not be back at work at the end of his leave on 9 October, Cr Christensen said he was unaware of the CEO’s plans.
“My responsibility is to ensure we are able to continue to operate council,“ he said.
“And anything beyond that is personal matters. If the CEO is not available, which may well be the case, I still have the ability to run council.
“I’ll respect the privacy and stay out of any of the other gossip or rumours.“
Council was asked on 6 October whether the special meeting was called because it was known Mr Keenan would not be returning this week.
They were also asked whether his absence was due to personal matters or if there was a council-related impediment to his return.
A council spokesperson responded only to say Mr Keenan was on leave and they were unaware when he would be back.
“The CEO is unavailable to perform his council duties until further notice,“ the spokesperson said.
Mr Keenan’s employment with the Southern Downs Regional was terminated by mutual agreement in mid-2020, before his tenure at Mount Isa City Council was cut short following a resignation in December-2022
Councillors including Cr Amanda Hay and Deputy Mayor Jeff McConnell were also contacted but denied to comment.
Mr Keenan was also contacted but did not respond.
