Napier City Council CEO Dr Steph Rotarangi has quit the top job. Photo / NZME
Napier City Council CEO Dr Steph Rotarangi has quit the top job. Photo / NZME
Napier City Council has been accused of having a "serious culture issue" after four executives quit their jobs in quick succession, including the CEO.
It was announced this week that CEO Steph Rotarangi - the first female CEO in the council's history - has handed in her resignation after just 18 months in the top job.
That follows the resignation of three other executives from the council's executive leadership team: Antoinette Campbell (in April), Jon Kingsford (in May), and Adele Henderson (in June).
That leadership team is tasked with leading the 500-plus staff at council and is now made up of six executives, including the CEO.
"A run of resignations by senior managers from Napier City Council confirms the council has a serious culture and leadership issue," current councillor Nigel Simpson said.
Napier councillor Nigel Simpson says the string of resignations is very concerning. Photo / NZME
Simpson, who is running for mayor at the upcoming local body elections in October against incumbent mayor Kirsten Wise, claimed only a couple of experienced executive managers were left on the leadership team.
He claimed "a number" of other staff with leadership responsibilities at the council had also resigned this year, which "of course leads to productivity issues" within the organisation.
He said the current situation was tough on existing staff who were working under a lot of uncertainty.
Simpson said it was going to be a big decision around who to appoint as the next CEO.
He urged the council to leave that decision until the next council was elected in October, to help ensure "both the council table and the chief executive are on the same page".
Council said in a statement that "reasons given for resignations are confidential and relate to employment law".
Napier Mayor Kirsten Wise is running for re-election in October. Photo / NZME
The council confirmed the recent resignations of four senior executives/directors, but declined to answer any further questions around resignations in the wider organisation.
"Earlier this year, the executive leadership team [ELT] underwent a realignment process which took it from nine directors and managers to five executive directors [plus the CEO]," a council statement read.
"The change has allowed the ELT to align themselves with a clear vision and set of strategic outcomes and is now supported by a set of strategic leadership groups who are focussed on [long term plan] project delivery, capital project delivery and staff culture."
Dr Rotarangi will remain in her position of CEO for another three months before departing.
She has accepted a role as deputy chief executive at Fire and Emergency NZ and previously worked in fire services both in New Zealand and Australia.
"While my time as Napier City Council's chief executive has been relatively short, I am proud of what our organisation has collectively achieved in this time," she said.
Late last year, Dr Rotarangi told Hawke's Bay Today the council had previously under-invested in assets and infrastructure, which was a big part of why the council would have to borrow almost $300 million over the next five years.
