John Rayner’s appointment comes just two weeks after Mr McSwain resigned, and less than a week after council appointed a recruitment company.
Mayor Norm Brennan said Mr Rayner has an extensive 40-year history in local government, making him the perfect candidate to fill the role for three to six months.
‘‘He has a very long local government history, and has been general manager for 30 odd years and is currently retired,’’ Cr Brennan said.
‘‘He is coming for a visit with his wife on Sunday and Monday, before heading back to their current home in Sydney on Tuesday.
‘‘Mr Rayner will then return on the Monday, after Adam McSwain’s last day on Friday, April 3, to take on the interim position as we look to find a permanent general manager.’’
Mr Rayner started his local government career in 1965 when taking on a role as administration officer for Ulmarra Shire Council, where he worked until 1967.
From 1967 until 1969 he was the senior administration officer at Mudgee Municipal Council.
He also held various senior positions at Lithgow City Council from 1969 until 1977 and was then appointed general manager at Greater Lithgow City Council in 1977.
Mr Rayner transferred to Sutherland Shire Council in January 1982 and was general manager there until September 2015 when he retired.
Since his retirement, he has been a consultant for various councils, and was administrator for Georges River Council during May 2016 until September 2017.
‘‘We specifically wanted to bring in an external interim general manager to reduce the disruption and impact of changes within the organisation to our staff who are already doing a lot of projects,’’ Cr Brennan said.
‘‘We had half a dozen apply for the interim position, so we went through their resumes and applications, and on Monday, Ash Hall and myself spoke to John Rayner.
‘‘We then spoke to our recruitment agent Steve Blacker to advise we were happy with Mr Rayner and wanted him to join our team for the next three to six months while we go through recruitment.
‘‘We are pleased to bring in someone with a long history of working with councils and expect his experience in multiple general manager positions will assist him in his new role with Edward River Council.’’
Mr McSwain’s last day with council is Friday, April 3.
The 34 year-old is taking on a role with Bayside City Council in Victoria as director environment, recreation and infrastructure.
Mr McSwain said the decision to leave Deniliquin was due to family reasons.
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