Dale Dickson to leave Mount Isa City Council 'for new opportunities'

Former chief executive of local governments in Burnett and Bowen, Tim Rose, will take over from Mr Dickson in a temporary capacity starting early July.

Mr Rose also occupied the chief executive position of private procurement business Local Buy Pty Ltd as well as acting chief executive roles at the Diamantina Shire, Mappon Aboriginal Shire and Quilpie Shire Councils.

In a statement to media, a spokeswoman for Mount Isa City Council said Mr Dickson was "leaving the organisation for new opportunities".

Having occupied the role in an interim capacity, following on from David Keenan's sudden resignation in October 2022, Mr Dickson's short tenure drew praise from Mayor Danielle Slade.

"In such a short time, Dale has managed to bring a strong momentum of positive change for our Council," Cr Slade said.

"It's certainly a huge loss, but I appreciate Dale's decision is best for his family and career and I'm just grateful that we had a CEO of his calibre here at Council.

"On behalf of Mount Isa City Council, we all wish Dale the very best going forward and for all of his future endeavours."

The announcement of Mr Dickson's departure came one day before council unveiled its budget for the 2023-24 financial year.

Cr Slade said Mr Dickson had done an "execeptional job assisting the councillors to address the operating deficit of recent years".

"While other councils will see large rate increases, this year we have managed to put up a restrained budget that has kept our rate increase low while delivering a small surplus, and we at Council thank him sincerely for that," she said.

In a post to social media, Mr Dickson thanked the residents of Mount Isa as well as councillors and council staff for their cooperation during his almost eight month stint as chief executive.

"Thank you Mount Isa ... You've been wonderful," he said.

"In the next few years, the council will be doing much to advance the economic, social and environmental credentials of Mount Isa and the broader region.

"Mount Isa is quite rightly regarded as an iconic Queensland and Australian city with a strong sense of identity and community.

"It is well governed and I am very confident will be well managed into the future, to the benefit of the Mount Isa community, Queensland and indeed Australia."

"Tim will do a great job. I wish to express my thanks to Mayor Danielle Slade, all councillors, all staff of the council organisation, and the people of Mount Isa for being so co-operative.

Cr Slade said she was excited to welcome Mr Dickson's incoming replacement.

Mr Rose will occupy the post of acting chief executive until the next ordinary meeting of council on July 19, where councillors will decide whether to keep him on further.

"We look forward to having Tim Rose at the helm as council's acting CEO and to working with him on the many exciting projects and initiatives that are in the pipeline at council," Cr Slade said.