The City of Melville has welcomed Gail Bowman as Chief Executive Officer – the City’s first ever female CEO.
Ms Bowman was appointed to the role of CEO from a competitive field of 59 applicants following an extensive and Australia-wide recruitment process, and steps into the job from her previous position at the City as Director Community Development.
With a lifelong career in local and state government and community services, Ms Bowman is a passionate advocate for community, and has demonstrated a strong commitment to working closely and positively with Council to get the best possible outcomes for the Melville community, customers, residents, ratepayers and business owners.
Together with Mayor Katy Mair, Deputy Mayor Glynis Barber and Council, Ms Bowman will focus strongly on community-informed, Council-led decision making and is starting her tenure as CEO by inviting residents to help shape a bright future for the City by taking part in the major review of the City’s Strategic Community Plan.- Our Future Melville.
The Strategic Community Plan is the City’s most significant guiding document as it establishes the community’s aspirations and Council’s vision for the City over a 10 year period.
With broad reaching and varied engagement opportunities, the community can choose their own adventure to get involved and share their thoughts on how the City is tracking on our existing aspirations and vision, and share their ideas for our future.
The Chief Executive Officer said she was pleased to be working at the council.
“I’m excited to lead the City of Melville organisation and staff to work collaboratively with the community and Council to achieve the Council’s vision and priorities and the community’s aspirations,” said Ms Bowman.
“My focus will be on community-informed, Council-led decision making as I’m passionate about Council-led strategic planning and alignment, engaging with and understanding our community’s priorities while also delivering good governance.
“I also want to ensure high performance in the delivery of excellent customer and community-centric services and facilities that meet the needs of our diverse Melville community in a sustainable way.
“I will bring an empathetic and authentic leadership style to the role as CEO and strive to embody our values of excellence, participation, integrity and caring.”
Ms Bowman offers an extensive background in community, corporate strategy, risk and governance and has a strong vision to ensure that the organisation is aligned with the priorities of the Community and Council, and that the administration delivers these through services and projects that are economically, environmentally and socially responsible, with strong governance and transparency, and the customer at the heart of everything we do.
While Ms Bowman is the City of Melville’s first female CEO, the City has a strong history of female leadership with current Mayor Mair also previously serving as Mayor between 1995 to 2007 and June Barton serving as Mayor between 1989 to 1995, and seven of the current 13 elected members currently on Council being female.
“I’m pleased to welcome Ms Bowman on her first day as Chief Executive Officer at the City of Melville, which marks an exciting new beginning and opportunity to reset, with our new look Council,” Mayor Mair said.
“While we have had female Mayors, and currently have a majority of women serving on Council, Ms Bowman is our first ever female CEO and that makes today a historic day.
“I look forward to working with Gail and her team to help deliver the services and facilities that are important and needed by our community.
“We hold great stewardship for our residents, ratepayers and local businesses and with Gail as CEO, I am confident that together we can achieve the City’s vision to achieve an inclusive, vibrant and sustainable future, through listening and understanding our community’s priorities.
“Gail and I take this opportunity to invite our community to help us shape tomorrow, today through Our Future Melville project.”
Ms Bowman’s appointment was unanimously endorsed at a Special Council Meeting on Wednesday, 20 August 2023.
