AFTER 16 years as City of Stirling CEO, Stuart Jardine had announced he’ll finish up at the end of his current contract on April 4, 2024. 

Mr Jardine has spent 25 years at Perth councils, and another 21 years in UK local governments.

“I look back with immense pride and fulfillment on what we have achieved for our community,” Mr Jardine said.

“I believe now is the right time for me to step down and hand the baton over to a new era of leadership for the City of Stirling.”

Mr Jardine’s contract was due to run until April 2023, but in May 2022 the council decided to add an extra year to get him through to 2024.

It was an unusual move that attracted some scrutiny from the public gallery, given it bypassed the usual requirement for the council to publicly advertise a CEO’s job if one person occupied the job for more than 10 years.

But mayor Mark Irwin said the council had “independent legal advice” that a one-year extension was ok.

Mr Irwin said they wanted to keep the seasoned Mr Jardine around to see them through the transition out of the Covid-19 era. 

The council will start the search for a new CEO shortly.