He will also investigate whether current or former staff including former chief executive Michael Redman breached statutory regulations.
The council yesterday unanimously approved 27 changes in response to the V8 audit report, including introducing a business case policy, more timely and transparent communication and a "no surprises"policy.
The council has also set-up a new working group comprising mayor Julie Hardaker, Mr Chesterman and councillors Dave Macpherson, Martin Gallagher and Margaret Forsyth to keep a close watch on the changes being made by the chief executive and to improve the council's governance.
Councillor Daphne Bell said the decisions on the V8s sat heavily on her conscience and she would not be standing for re-election.
The council's reputation was in tatters and she felt that at the beginning it had been complacent and in some cases arrogant and too trusting.
"I'm probably the councillor that was the least enamoured by the event" she said.
"I failed to represent the views of those opposed to the event. We spoke about the risks and the problems and I didn't put that case to council."
Councillor Ewan Wilson also accepted criticism that the councillors did not ask hard enough questions but also felt the report illustrated "an organised litany of concealment and deception".
He said the report raised issues regarding senior executives' high pay levels.
Ms Hardaker said the audit report showed a failure of the democratic process. She said the council's management and governance wings were at fault, but she had confidence in the council to support her and the chief executive in making changes demanded this week by Local Government Minister Rodney Hide.
Councillor Maria Westphal, who chaired the finance and audit committee until this year, did not speak during the discussion.
THE NEW WAY
Set up working group to:
* Decide time frame for chief executive to put in place his 27 actions.
* Give input on new business case policy.
* Put together governance actions to address Audit NZ recommendations within seven days.
* Ensure actions are in place within set timeframe.
* Provide updates to the council
* Chief executive to complete performance management reviews by Christmas.
WANTED: MORE WHISTLE-BLOWERS
City councillors want Hamilton Council chief executive Barry Harris to implement a "whistle blowing system" to alert them to problems early on.
The call was in response to claims by council staff, including deputy chief executive Blair Bowcott, that they were just following the boss' orders in reporting over the V8 Supercars events and other significant projects. Some staff said their concerns were ignored.
Councillors Dave Macpherson and Angela O'Leary have asked the chief executive to investigate a "whistle blowing system" so staff could safely raise concerns with the right people in management or on the council.
Ms O'Leary suggested it be run by an independent organisation and staff could remain anonymous if needed.
Mr Harris said he would look into whether the present policy was working.
"I need to satisfy myself that [it] is a sufficiently open process people feel comfortable using."
However despite the council support for whistle-blowing, staff were this week reminded of the council's media policy telling them who was authorised to speak.
This follows former staff member Barry Easton going public with his concerns about how the council handled key projects such as the City Heart CBD upgrade, Claudelands Events Centre and IT upgrade Project Phoenix.
Mr Harris said the reminder was to give employees the opportunity to disclose issues, but also reinforcing their obligations as employees.
