This sentiment was echoed by Mrs Travers and Mrs Redstone.
Mr Barber, who was also not aware until the information was reported in this paper, said the pay rise decision should have come back to the full council for discussion and debate before being released to the public.
"I found out about it from concerned members of the public who had contacted me after reading the paper.
"I was totally caught off guard and struggled to explain council's position because it was news to me.
"We should have had a 'heads-up' email to let us know this was coming out in the paper," he said.
Acting mayor Sandra Hazlehurst, however, said there was no obligation to tell the other councillors as this was not part of the Terms of Reference of that committee.
The Terms of Reference stated that the committee was delegated the authority to act on behalf of the council in carrying out the chief executive's performance review and planning process.
As part of the review of Mr McLeod's contract, a contract extension was also given, but on this matter all councillors were in the loop, and Mrs Hazlehurst said all were in agreement, but again not all were necessarily happy about it.
Mr Heaps said he did not vote against the extension but looking back felt it was concerning that the push to do it, with corresponding information, came from former mayor Lawrence Yule, who had backed Mr McLeod throughout.
He added that the contract assessment should have been undertaken by an independent party, not the council's own human resources team, which would "naturally stand by their boss".
As a result of concerns about the powers of the chairman's committee, the council had decided to disband it and all decisions on the chief executive's performance would now be made by the whole council.
Criticism over staff resignation
In the meantime, news that Mr McLeod's contract was extended, and that water supply manager Dylan Stuijt had resigned last month provoked criticism and renewed calls for more accountability after the Havelock North water crisis.
Yesterday, Taxpayers' Union executive Jordan Williams said that, as predicted, the council had "appeared to have found a mid-tier scapegoat".
"Shame on them. Council chief executives are paid the big bucks to be responsible and accountable, yet again we have a CEO who refuses to be either."
He said Mr McLeod did not poison the water, but ultimately he was responsible for the systems and safeguards that let Havelock North residents down and was linked to the deaths of three people.
"He should have fallen on his sword rather than allow a mid-tier employee do it for him."
Mrs Hazlehurst reiterated her stance from earlier this year when she said that it was appropriate for Mr McLeod to stay in his role as he was in the best position to deal with matters identified during investigations into the Havelock North water contamination.
She again said that she did not know anything about Mr Stuijt's resignation.
"I was not briefed at all about that - we had talked to the chief executive about the fact he was looking for more resources to build a strong water team which the council could trust in terms of water delivery - that's their job."
She said the council was given monthly progress updates and had heard that a new water team member from Sydney had been employed.
"The staff are building a strong, robust water team and making sure we are getting all the infrastructure in place so we can provide safe drinking water."