THREE of Dubbo ratepayers' top-tier servants have held fast to their jobs for another five years.
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Dubbo City Council will reappoint the long-serving directors who each take home six-figure packages but not everyone has endorsed the move.
Councillors Bill Kelly, Greg Mohr and Ben Shields voted against the proposal from general manager Mark Riley to renew the contracts.
The futures of Stewart McLeod, Melissa Watkins and David Dwyer, in charge of the technical services, environmental services and community services divisions respectively, came up at this week's council meeting.
The chamber had already been closed to the public for the consideration of tenders.
Then staff members were also asked to vacate the premises for the discussion of the personnel matter.
Councillors took more than 15 minutes to hammer out the last item on the agenda before the confidential part of the meeting finished and the chamber was reopened to the public.
Organisational services director Craig Giffin read the recommendations from the closed session, including that Mr Riley's proposal be noted and that the documentation and consideration of the matter remain confidential.
While there was no debate, the three councillors' decision to vote 'no' did some of the talking.
The reappointment of the three directors rounds off a period of consolidating the leadership team of the council, in part prompted by the departure of a former director, Megan Dixon, in 2011.
Ken Rogers ultimately became the permanent director of corporate development in her place, leaving vacant the top job of parks and landcare.
A recruitment process run by an external agency resulted in the appointment of Murray Wood, who had been acting director in Mr Rogers's place, 12 months ago.
Mr Riley was offered a four-year contract - a third term as general manager - in March 2012.
The council's latest annual report informed the community that for 2011-12 Mr McLeod and Ms Watkins received remuneration packages of $236,122 and $203,207 respectively.
The figure includes salaries, fringe benefits tax, private use of a council vehicle and employer's superannuation contributions.
Their earnings in the organisation were second and third only to Mr Riley, whose total package for the reported period reached $264,018.