The Victorian Government has moved to sack the dysfunctional City of Whittlesea council, three months after chief executive Simon Overland was removed and an independent monitor installed.

Key points: The State Government has introducd legislation to dismiss the council

The State Government has introducd legislation to dismiss the council The council has had five chief executives in as many years

The council has had five chief executives in as many years Whittlesea is the third Victorian council to be sacked in less than a year

Legislation was introduced to State Parliament on Tuesday to dismiss the council due to serious governance failures revealed by municipal monitor Yehudi Blacher.

Mr Blacher found the council went through five chief executives within five years and spent $500,000 on legal disputes.

Local Government Minister Adem Somyurek said the people of Whittlesea had every reason to be disappointed in the council.

"The monitor has found that an intractable toxic culture has developed of infighting and division and internal bickering, which has led to the total collapse of governance at the Whittlesea City Council," Mr Somyurek said.

"This council has spent $500,000 in legal fees as a result of their internal bickering rather than spending money on the upkeep of infrastructure.

"Rather than spending this money on delivering services for their communities they have spent this money on internal bickering.

"An example of that dysfunction is the fact that the council has had five different CEOs within five years — that's a huge, massive turnover of CEOs. I've never seen that before."

Simon Overland resigned from his role as head of Tasmania's justice department in 2017 to become chief executive of Whittlesea Council. ( AAP: Simon Mossman )

Mr Overland, who was Victoria's police chief commissioner between 2009 and 2011, was Whittlesea's fifth chief executive in five years.

He was sacked from his job in December amid allegations of bullying and intimidation of staff by councillors.

He held a number of senior positions with Victoria Police during Melbourne's "gangland wars" and was called to give evidence during the recent 'Lawyer X' royal commission about his involvement in the use of lawyer Nicole Gobbo as an informant.

Mr Blacher, the municipal monitor, recommended the council be dismissed and administrators appointed until the 2024 local government general elections, or later.

Councillor welcomes sacking

Despite being told he would lose his job, councillor Tom Joseph said he was pleased the council would be sacked.

The City of Whittlesea's councillors will be replaced by government-appointed administrators. ( Facebook: City of Whittlesea )

He said the council was beset with internal fighting and he accused some fellow councillors of "pork-barreling", and making decisions that were "not in the interests of the community".

"We're seeing wrong decision after wrong decision, costing millions of dollars," Cr Joseph told ABC Radio Melbourne.

"The staff morale is completely down with this revolving door policy with CEOs.

"It is essentially a few councillors who are just about themselves."

At the time of Mr Overland's sacking, Cr Joseph described the council as "in chaos" and said the State Government's decision was in the best interests of Whittlesea residents.

The government will appoint an interim administrator to make sure council functions are delivered once the councillors are removed from their positions.

"The monitor found councillors have stopped acting in the best interests of the City of Whittlesea and recommended its immediate dismissal and replacement with administrators. We accept the recommendations," Mr Somyurek said.

"Victorians deserve and expect the highest standard of governance and integrity from their councils.

"Unfortunately the monitor has found that this particular council has fallen well short of those high standards."

Mr Somyurek said it was unfortunate that in his short tenure there had been three councils the Government had needed to sack.

"There are 76 councils doing a good job," he said.

"If I have another report like the one I've got from this monitor I would have no hesitation recommending a sacking.

"The monitor was due to hand down his report in June, but the monitor said 'I've seen enough now, mid-March and the longer this circus continues the more the people in the City of Whittlesea are missing out'."

Council 'completely dysfunctional'

Opposition Leader Michael O'Brien blamed the council's problems on Labor factional infighting.

"The council does seem to be completely dysfunctional and a dysfunctional council doesn't work for ratepayers," he said.

Whittlesea will be the third Victorian council to be sacked within 10 months.

The conflict-plagued South Gippsland Shire Council was removed in June last year, after six resignations.

And the Casey City Council, which is at the centre of an IBAC probe, was replaced by an administrator last month.

An independent monitor's report recommended Casey Council be dismissed over allegations of corruption linked to property developer John Woodman.

