Waipā District Council chief executive Garry Dyet. Photo / Dean Taylor
In 1980 freshly trained health inspector Garry Dyet joined the staff at Waipā County Council, little knowing he wouldn’t walk out of the building for the last time until almost 45 years later.
Waipā District Council’s chief executive for the past 15 years, Dyet has announced he is retiring in 2024 - but only after the 2024-2034 Long-Term Plan has been adopted and some other major pieces of work are completed or well advanced.
Waipā mayor Susan O’Regan made the announcement today, confirming Dyet had shared his plans with her some time ago.
“I appreciate Garry being so upfront with me and certainly the whole of council appreciates Garry’s commitment to putting Waipā first.
“He has given council seven months to find a replacement.
“His extended notice will help take council through what will be a very challenging few months as we confirm the Long-Term Plan.
“It will also allow a new chief executive to hit the ground running with key pieces of work completed and before we go into another election in 2025.
“That’s important and I am grateful for Garry’s considered approach.”
Dyet said the decision to retire after 15 years in the chief executive “hot-seat” had been testing but it was time to focus on other projects. That included spending more time with family, including grandchildren, and travelling.
While his dedication to Waipā, firstly with the county council and then the district council following the 1989 local government restructuring cannot be questioned, a career in local government wasn’t first on his list when he was a student at Te Awamutu College in the 1970s. It wasn’t second either, but he admits he didn’t do quite enough research when planning ahead, which isn’t like him.
Dyet had his heart set on being a pilot with the Royal New Zealand Air Force, but his type 1 diabetes which he has lived with his whole life precluded that option.
Instead, he set a goal of being an air force armament technician, taking the right technical subjects at school and looking forward to applying and joining up.
“I sent in my application, but the military was pretty blunt with their rejection,” Dyet said.
“Type 1 diabetes. We wouldn’t take you on as a cook.”
He says he had to reassess and at the time there were a number of cadet schemes where you were paid to train.
The Health Department was running a two-and-a-half-year health inspector course in Hamilton.
“I was pretty good at biology and chemistry so I applied and was accepted.”
Once qualified, he won a position at the country council under Fred Amess.
“I hated it,” he said.
Dyet didn’t hate the council, but he realised he was more interested in planning.
“I was bonded to work as a health inspector for three years by the Health Department but WCC boss Selwyn Brown was fantastic and I was encouraged to study while I worked.”
Dyet started by completing a Certificate in Planning and moved into the planning department as soon as he could.
In 1989 he won the position of Waipā District’s first district planner and he got to write the first Waipā District Plan under the new Resource Management Act.
In the mid-90s he completed a master’s degree in Public Policy through Victoria University while working.
“It opened the door for my advancement within the local body as we were being encouraged to analyse our systems and processes, to develop fair and equitable rating systems and were being challenged by big business and government to take on board a host of new information and regulations.”
Dyet moved into the leadership team and his skills were valued.
He says it wasn’t long before he was ready for a chief executive role and he admits he looked elsewhere.
“My boss John Inglis convinced me to stay,” says Dyet.
“It wasn’t with money. He said I added value to Waipā DC and I had the right feel for the place and asked if that would be the same in a different district.”
It was a few years later when Inglis retired that Dyet won the chief executive role.
He says one of the strengths of the council has been the people in leadership in both the organisation and political teams and the continuity of good, qualified staff who have given long and valuable service.
“I have only worked under three chief executives and six mayors in my nearly 45 years,” he says.
Dyet started under Selwyn Brown and then Trevor Loomb was appointed to the new amalgamated council, then replaced by John Inglis, who was a previous council employee.
Harold Sherwin was head of the county council, and then Waipā district has been served by mayors Bruce Berquist, John Hewitt, Alan Livingston, Jim Mylchreest and Susan O’Regan.
“I take my hat off to anyone who stands for public office. It is a role which has become increasingly difficult in an age of misinformation,” he says.
“More and more was also being asked of staff given council managed $2.4 billion of critical infrastructure and now had legal responsibilities far beyond core services.
“Local government has gone through huge change in the last 45 years.
“In simpler times we were able to be closer to ratepayers and directly accountable for our decisions through standard democratic processes. In other words, the buck would stop with us and we could make changes accordingly.
“Now we are awash in legislative and audit requirements, much of it pushed on to councils by central government without any understanding of what the impacts on our communities will be. It has been frustrating to watch it unfold because it has not always been positive.”
“What we do have is consistency and pride in Waipā from the staffing team,” said Dyet.
“The leadership team is as good now as it has ever been and everyone has a goal of doing the best for Waipā and the best for ratepayers.”
He says it is hard to explain the value of rates to the public.
“We provide 28 different services and amenities to make your lives better, all for about the same cost as your power bill,” he says.
“It isn’t easy to put a value on some of the amenities and services, but I believe it isn’t just about water and roads - it is about what we can provide in the way of parks, libraries, museums, etc, that add value to our lives and make Waipā consistently ranked as the top place to live in the Waikato.”
Dyet’s decision to give a long notice period is part of that consistency and will to do the best for his district.
“I knew the time had come to retire,” he says.
“I have only played nine holes of golf once in two years and I struggle to read a book for pleasure.
“But I didn’t want to leave when a new council had been elected, so this is timed to be mid-election cycle and to complete some of the major work so the new head can continue the work.”
Dyet says he takes huge pride that Waipā is recognised for excellent planning in terms of land use and infrastructure.
“This council has made robust infrastructure investments as well as investing in some amazing community facilities. It’s crystal clear not many districts can claim that and some now have serious issues to contend with.”
He says the coming seven months would be dominated by a financially challenging Long-Term Plan and by the adoption of the Ahu Ake Waipā Community Spatial Plan. He also expected a raft of changes coming from Wellington, driven by the new coalition Government.
And he says councils have a real dilemma, as costs are doubling every seven years, but if councils simply cut rates and canned work and projects the standard of living would deteriorate.
“The challenge is to find cost-effective ways to provide high-quality outcomes.”
O’Regan says a replacement for Dyet would be managed by an external recruiter with a recruitment search kicking off in the new year.
Dean Taylor is a community journalist with more than 35 years of experience and is the editor of the Te Awamutu Courier and Waikato Herald.
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