Perth Voice Interactive

PERTH city council’s acting CEO Martin Mileham has been locked into the position for a five-year term.

Mr Mileham was formerly the council’s director of planning and development, and began working the CEO’s job in January when Gary Stevenson was sacked.

Lord mayor Lisa Scaffidi says Mr Mileham was appointed following a robust recruitment process, and is uniquely qualified for the role.

“He is eager to work with council and lead our staff through the next exciting stage of our capital city’s growth and we are delighted to have recruited such a high-quality leader,” Ms Scaffidi said.

“Martin has also worked closely with the council to implement a series of new governance and transparency measures in recent months.”

Mr Mileham has an architecture background with over 35 years experience in senior building management and urban planning positions in both the public and private sector.

His work has taken him to a host of far-flung countries, including the UAE where he worked on the Burj Khalifa (the world’s tallest building), but he’s a Perth man with a degree from UWA.

Councillors Reece Harley and Lily Chen weren’t at last week’s special meeting to appoint Mr Mileham, but both threw their support behind him.

Cr Harley liked that Mr Mileham had a world of experience outside local government, and pointed out that although he had the incumbency benefit, he was still picked ahead of over 50 other applicants.

“We did look all around the place and we did interview a lot of different people,” Cr Harley said.

“He is a very competent candidate for this role… a very good communicator, not only with the administration but also with elected members,” Cr Chen said.

by TRILOKESH CHANMUGAM