16 June 2021
Media: Local Democracy Reporter
Topic: RLC organisational realignment
Enquiry
Following on regarding the deputy chief executive roles, I have some comments for right of reply from the council and mayor.
I also have these questions:
- Can you please confirm the salary increases - I understand these are just under $10,000 and about $18,000 as stated on Newstalk ZB.
- What is the role of salary bands if people were not being paid within these bands? Does the council consider it misleading to publicly state staff were paid within these bands when they were not?
- Has the organisational realignment internal consultation been completed? Have salaries been reviewed and adjusted before this process is complete? Why?
- How do these pay rises reconcile with the staff wage freeze the council voted for?
- Why did the council not announce the changes until the media asked questions about the titles?
- Did the council senior management advise all councillors about the changes? If so, when? If not, why not?
COMMENTS
Rotorua Lakes councillor Peter Bentley called for intervention from central government, such as a commissioner, to investigate the council.
He said he had been "utterly appalled" to discover seven deputy chief executives had been appointed from the media.
Bentley said had not been made aware of the change internally, which he would expect as a councillor.
"Had I been consulted I would never have sanctioned it."
He said there needed to be some "common sense" and in his opinion the mayor Steve Chadwick and chief executive Geoff Williams were "running their own private little fiefdom".
"The council is an authority unto itself, it's not accountable. We've got unelected officials making huge decisions.
"We voted for a [staff] wage freeze. Yeah right."
He believed in his opinion the new titles were "just a way of getting around the wage freeze" by appointing the seven people to "theoretically new jobs".
"Is the chief executive job so difficult ... you need seven deputies? Maybe we should look into a more competent chief executive.
"We're only a little town for goodness' sake."
He said national news of the seven deputy chief executives was "an embarrassment" for Rotorua.
Bentley also dismissed the idea that the titles would result in a better focus on outcomes, as he expected those outcomes should already be happening.
"It shows how out of touch our senior management is with reality."
Response
Reporter was sent the release HERE relating to the organisational realignment
Response from Mayor Steve Chadwick:
Council has set expectations that the organisation must meet and this includes responding to some very demanding challenges – like housing, jobs and climate change to name a few.
In 2013 we set an agenda for change and had to think and act differently to pull the district out of a slump. As a result of COVID, we face a new set of challenges that need a different approach again.
We’re not in a traditional business-as-usual environment and it would be naïve to think an historic approach will address the contemporary challenges we now face.
Elected members were fully briefed about the need to realign the organisation to meet the expectations set – that was during our first long-term plan workshop last September and set out the approach being taken and the reasoning behind that, including in relation to outcome areas and DCEs.
Myself and committee chairs and deputy chairs have also had regular updates on the progress of the realignment process.
It is the CE’s responsibility to manage the organisation and ensure it is effective and efficient, and in the right shape to deliver the strategic direction that is set by elected members to achieve good outcomes for our community.
Cr Bentley appears to not understand the role of governance, which is to set the strategic direction and does not extend to determining the day-to-day operational management or structure of the council organisation, or the roles and titles of staff.
We were aware of what was happening and the councillor’s comments are further evidence of the importance of elected members turning up to the business of council – participating fully and fulfilling the roles they have been elected to. Wake up.