The tangled web of Warrnambool connections include those between Lyndoch Living and the former acting CEO of the Warrnambool City Council.Carol Altmann – The Terrier
A tip-off has landed in the terrier kennel that Lyndoch Living is set to further expand its executive by hiring former Warrnambool City Council Acting CEO Vikki King.
Until recently this tip-off was a persistent rumour, but I now have every reason to believe it’s on the cards, although it’s impossible to provide rock solid confirmation at the moment, because Lyndoch doesn’t talk to me.
(An emailed question to the Lyndoch media unit has gone unanswered.)
But Ms King, according to my sources, is set to be employed to a new, senior executive position within Lyndoch Living.
The number of executives and administration officers within Lyndoch Living has ballooned in the past five years, although the most recent figures are hard to come by.
The last time Lyndoch provided a breakdown was in 2018 when there was 60 admin staff, up from 37 in 2016.
In 2020, administration cost Lyndoch $3.07 million for the year.
If my sources are right, Ms King will soon be added to this payroll.
As we know, Ms King was director of Community Services at the Warrnambool City Council for six years, and Acting CEO for almost 12 months after the illegal sacking of CEO Peter Schneider.
Ms King resigned from the council on June 16 – just five days after Mr Schneider won his Supreme Court case and was reinstated.
Little has been heard about Ms King since, until this “rumour-turned-tip-off” bubbled to the surface.
One thing is certain, Ms King has already developed firm links to Lyndoch Living via her work at the council and separately.
As the string map published here a year ago shows (thanks to a reader), Ms King is deputy chair of the South West Primary Care Partnership that is chaired by the Lyndoch CEO.
Both Ms King and the Lyndoch CEO were also involved with Beyond the Bell/South-West Local Learning and Employment Network.
Ms King’s role as council’s director of Community Services naturally also included links with Lyndoch, especially via the council’s 2040 plan, of which Lyndoch is a partner.
And as it happens, one of the last public statements made by Ms King before her resignation from council was to announce that Lyndoch was taking over the Regional Assessment Service for elderly people wishing to stay in their homes.
We shall see in due course if my tip-off is right, or if I am barking up the wrong tree.