Disquiet over council decision prompts process change

Ross McLeod, chief executive, Hastings District Council.

Changes to how decisions are made about the Hastings District Council chief executive's performance and pay are being introduced, due to some councillors being unaware of current chief Ross McLeod's recent pay rise.

As part of an annual review, the chairman's committee approved a 2 per cent salary increase to take effect from February this year, but some councillors weren't aware of the decision until they read it in Hawke's Bay Today last month.

As a result, a meeting was held soon after to discuss how to handle the process differently.

One of those in the dark was acting deputy mayor and mayoral candidate Simon Nixon who said he had been away and was surprised on his return to read it in the paper, and then to face criticism from the public about the decision.

"The council had agreed to collectively support any decision made by the chairman's committee but I would not automatically support a decision like this - and I wonder if it was the right year to be doing this," he said, given the Havelock North gastro crisis.

Councillor Malcolm Dixon was on the chairman's committee when the decision was made and said Mr McLeod's performance, including whether he had met his Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) was discussed by the full council in July last year.

It was suggested that the matter be brought back for consideration in September last year, but because of the water crisis it was agreed to delay a pay increase at that time, Mr Dixon said.

Then, in February this year the committee met with an independent consultant who recommended a two per cent pay rise would be appropriate.

"He had turned down a pay increase in 2014 and 2015 so this was the year to bring things back into line with where they needed to be."

He said the pay increase approval should have come back to the whole council but that everyone was involved in the July meeting, so knew that the process was under way.

It was the only the new councillors who had not been around at that time, or were not part of the committee, that may have been unaware the pay rise was imminent, he said.

Acting mayor Sandra Hazlehurst said the chairman's committee, of which she was also a member, had been in place for a long time under former mayor Lawrence Yule and was tasked solely with dealing with the chief executive's performance and remuneration.

Its members were made up of the chairs of the council's other standing committees, the mayor and the deputy mayor.

The whole council was involved in assessing whether or not the chief executive had met their KPIs, but it was this committee that set remuneration, decisions on which were made on behalf of the full council.

"The chairman's committee agreed a small pay rise would be acceptable given Ross had met the requirements of the KPIs."

Moving forward, however, she said this committee had caused division among councillors in the past, and that in light of recent discussions from now on the chief executive's contract would be handled by the whole council.

"All the councillors want to be involved in the process, we don't want a them and us situation which the chairman's committee has created over the years.

"The councillors would now all take responsibility for both reviewing the chief executive's performance and pay," she said.