Christchurch City Council appointment of CEO process
The following statement is from Deputy Mayor Ngaire Button on behalf of the Christchurch City Council. No further comment will be made at this stage of the process.
The Christchurch City Council is currently in the process of recruiting a Chief Executive Officer for a five year term beginning in May 2012.
The process must be run consistent with section 42 and clauses 33-36 of Schedule 7 of the Local Government Act 2002.
Consistent with these statutory requirements, the process to date has involved preparing a position description for the role, advertising the role, receiving applications and shortlisting candidates for interviews. Next steps include interviewing the shortlisted candidates and deciding on the best candidate for the role.
The position description was drafted taking into account the responsibilities of a Chief Executive and the factors that a local authority must have regard to in appointing a Chief Executive as set out in the Local Government Act. The unique situation of Christchurch and the Council’s new priorities were also factored into the creation of the position description and particular emphasis was placed on working with the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority and on communication with stakeholders.
The position was advertised on job websites from 10 June 2011 and in the three major daily newspapers from 15 June 2011. Applications closed on 27 June 2011.
On 1 July 2011 the Council held a meeting to determine which candidates would be shortlisted for the position and subsequently interviewed. Structured interviews of the shortlisted candidates will be undertaken with the whole Council. Following the interviews, Councillors will have the opportunity to collectively compare their assessments and rating of each applicant in order to determine the best candidate for the position.
Mayor Bob Parker will not be participating in the appointment process following his earlier decision to stand aside.
It is anticipated that a decision on an appointment will be made by the end of August.