A chorus of Queenstown Lakes district councillors have dismissed concerns about any steps taken to replace the council’s chief executive.
Queenstown Lakes district councillor Niki Gladding has publicly questioned how Mayor Glyn Lewers has been handling the end of Mike Theelen’s tenure at the council and the replacement of the top bureaucrat at the council.
After Mr Lewers and Cr Gladding traded barbs, the Otago Daily Times asked a range of sitting councillors whether they shared Cr Gladding’s concerns.
Eight of 10 colleagues dismissed the concerns. Two did not respond.
Crs Matt Wong, Gavin Bartlett, Craig Ferguson, Melissa White, Barry Bruce, Cody Tucker, Lisa Guy and Lyal Cocks said they did not share any of Cr Gladding’s concerns over the process to recruit a new chief executive to date.
All said they were well informed about the process and it was appropriate a specialist consultant recruiter be engaged at this point, to ensure the next council — which would make the decision on the new chief executive — was able to hit the ground running shortly after being sworn in.
They all expressed exasperation at assertions the process was anything but above board.
Mr Theelen announced his resignation, effective from February, last month.
Subsequently, the council’s chief executive performance review committee, comprising Mr Lewers and Crs Guy and Cocks confirmed the committee helped council staff secure a recruitment agency to replace him.
Cr Gladding took issue with that because the committee operates in public excluded.
She says she and other elected members were not informed.
Her views, put forward in published opinion pieces, prompted Mr Lewers to issue a counter-statement last week to address several allegations, including that he was "steering or controlling the recruitment".
Cr Gladding told the ODT she stood by her opinion.
At the weekend, she went further and in another published opinion piece said Mr Lewers started the recruitment process before informing councillors Mr Theelen had resigned.
She also said the chief executive performance review committee was not the appropriate place for the process to begin — the recruitment should involve the full council.
Cr Tucker said the discourse was "frustrating" because it had created "unnecessary mistrust and resentment".
Cr Bartlett said Cr Gladding was casting aspersions on the process in the middle of an election "when there’s really nothing to see".
The issue was being used "for political gain ... in an effort to discredit certain people", Cr Bruce said.
Cr Cocks said Cr Gladding was "spreading misinformation and false information".
Cr Ferguson said she had had enough of "this constant badgering" from Cr Gladding’s corner.
The constant criticism of governance "has blighted this term".
Cr Guy was also frustrated doubt was being cast on other elected members and council processes through the spread of inaccurate information.
"I feel that regardless of what I say at the moment, it won’t be believed.
"I could probably come out with the actual procurement plan and all the legitimate information and put it in front of someone and they would still say ... ‘what are you hiding?"’
Cr Esther Whitehead did not reply by deadline, while Cr Quentin Smith declined to comment.
