Editorial: Big job ahead for new council CEO

From July 1 the Rotorua District Council will have a new chief executive.

Geoff Williams' appointment comes at a very interesting time in local body politics. Not just because it's election year and the new CEO could be working with different councils within the space of months, but because the very shape of councils could begin to change during his five-year term.

Earlier this year we reported Bay of Plenty regional councillor Neil Oppatt saying Rotorua was in danger of losing its identity and being run by a Tauranga-based "super council" similar to Auckland if the city's leaders did not engage in debate regarding changes to the Local Government Act.

His comment was sparked by a forum entitled Rethinking Local Government which was held in Tauranga at the start of February.

Rotorua and Tauranga's mayors dismissed Mr Oppatt's comments, but a joint statement by all the regional mayors and the regional council's John Cronin after the forum said change was possible in the Bay of Plenty in the medium to long-term.

"What that change might look like is not yet determined, so it's important we work together now to make sure we're in the best position to respond to a changing environment for the benefit of all our ratepayers," the statement said.

It's that changing environment Mr Williams may well face.

His experience as a senior member for the Auckland Transition Agency, the organisation responsible for amalgamating seven councils and establishing Auckland Council, will be useful.

As Rotorua Mayor Kevin Winters pointed out in a statement yesterday, "given recent changes to local government legislation and signals coming from central government, Mr Williams' unique mix of skills and experience will be valuable as we assess options for the future shape of Rotorua's own local government structure and direction over coming months and years".

Mr Williams will also need to be quickly schooled on the city's big ongoing issues, including the airport, empty shops and the redevelopment of the central city, Western Rd subsidence and the Rotorua Eastern Arterial among others.

The announcement of his appointment yesterday came after a week of speculation and discussion over the role, with several phone calls to our newsroom from members of the public telling us who the new council boss would be. We have to wonder how this information was disseminated so early, before the contract was even signed.

Such "leaks" aren't necessarily a fault of council management itself but nonetheless are not a good look from a communications point of view, an echo of the communication issue around the surprise advertising of the role in the first place.