Council
2 June, 2026
We stand united: Council leaders promise to support each other at all times
Senior staff at Wingecarribee Shire Council have signed a document vowing to stand together at all times and to put their loyalty to council’s executive team above all else.
Senior staff at Wingecarribee Shire Council have signed a document vowing to stand together at all times and to put their loyalty to council’s executive team above all else.
The document, titled Executive Team ‘Our Statement of Expectations’ and dated September 20, 2024, was signed by council’s General Manager Lisa Miscamble, directors Shelley Jones, Michael McCabe and Clinton McAlister and Chief Financial Officer Pav Kuzmanovski.
The document commits senior staff to a range of actions and behaviours “to ensure we are exemplary leaders in our community and in local government”.
Those behaviors include “giving each other the heads up (never throw each other to the wolves)” and “supporting each other (even if not in the room)”.
The document – signed just days before the return of an elected council in October 2024 – effectively ensures that any difference of opinion at an executive level is kept strictly behind closed doors.
It explains why senior staff have always presented a united front on issues such DA processing times despite intense pressure from the community for an improvement in council’s performance.
And while executive team members have promised to empower and support their teams “to do the best can” – they have also promised loyalty to the executive “as our first team”.
Lisa Miscamble has been the General Manager at Wingecarribee since June 2021 and was re-appointed for a second five-year term in September 2025.
Shelley Jones is the Director of Corporate Strategy and Resourcing, Michael McCabe the Director of Communities and Place and Clinton McAlister the Director of Service and Project Delivery.
Chief Financial Officer Pav Kuzmanovski also reports directly to the General Manager.
The timing of the document is extraordinary given local government elections were held on September 14, 2024 and a new council sworn in on October 9 following a three-year period of administration.
It raises questions about transparency at an executive level and the ability of senior staff to respond openly and honestly to questions from elected representatives given their commitment to present a united front at all times.
According to the document, being a ‘valuable’ member of the executive team also involves supporting each other, doing what you say you will do and respecting each other’s time.
To meet expectations, members of the executive team have also committed to:
- Collaborating and spending time together;
- Resolving issues as they arise in a positive, efficient and constructive way;
- Working together purposefully and meaningfully, individually and collectively;
- Striving to create and provide a positive and safe working environment for all to enjoy;
- Being positively engaged.
As recently reported by The Southern Wire, there are serious concerns over whether or not Wingecarribee Shire Council is a “positive and safe working environment for all to enjoy” with a number of concerns relating to bullying, harassment and racism.
A number of former council employees have told The Southern Wire they were forced out of their jobs – or left their jobs – because of unchecked behaviours in the management team.
One former employee told The Southern Wire he resigned from council after 14 years claiming he was harassed by a member of council’s management team and that his concerns over workplace bullying and harassment had been ignored.
Others have described the workplace environment at council as “unhealthy” and have claimed the behaviour of some staff is “inconsistent with council’s Code of Conduct”.
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