Christchurch City Council announces five senior appointments

Christchurch City Council chief executive Lesley McTurk today announced the appointments of five managers to positions created as a result of a restructuring.

Jane Parfitt, currently Chief Executive at Waimakariri District Council, will become CCC’s City Environment General Manager; Stephen McArthur, now Customer Services General Manager with Hutt City Council, will join the Council as Community Services General Manager; Rob Dally, currently CCC Property Manager, becomes Facility Assets Manager; Anusha Guler, now Manager of the Secretariat at Auckland University, will join as Manager of the Council Secretariat; and Richard Stokes, now General Manager of the New Zealand Basketball League, has been appointed Marketing Manager.

Of 18 new positions which were publicly advertised as a result of the restructure, Dr McTurk has now made nine appointments (four announced last week). She told staff today she expects to announce four more appointments in the next week.

“The level of interest in these positions from within with Council, from other local bodies and from other sectors has been high,” says Dr McTurk. “The location of the roles in Christchurch was obviously a real plus for many of the applicants.”

Background
1) Process: After consultation, Dr McTurk decided on a new organisation structure for the top two tiers of the City Council staff in mid-September. Affected were 19 senior management positions which had reported to the previous City Manager. Of those, 11 roles were disestablished and eight people were confirmed in new positions (because the new positions were significantly similar to their existing roles).

Managers in the disestablished roles were encouraged to apply for any of 18 newly created positions but were told that if their applications were not successful, they would potentially be made redundant. Of the 11 managers whose positions were disestablished, three have been re-employed in new roles and seven have been made redundant. One role is under discussion.

Dr McTurk has told staff that redundancies which have resulted from her restructuring process are no reflection on any of the managers’ performance or contribution to the Council. The new positions were based on a different set of capabilities and with a new structure. Managers who have been made redundant have been offered support, including outplacement and career counselling.

2) Rationale: In announcing the new structure in September Dr McTurk said her goal was to prepare the local body to deliver on the requirements of the new Local Government Act and create a structure to align the organisation around the strategic outcomes the City Council is seeking to achieve.

ENDS

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