Auckland Council chief executive Jim Stabback has resigned. Photo / Michael Craig
Auckland Council chief executive Jim Stabback has resigned. Photo / Michael Craig
Auckland Council chief executive Jim Stabback has resigned, Mayor Wayne Brown said today.
Stabback leaves the job of leading the country’s largest council halfway through a five-year contract. He started the job in September 2020.
It is understood there has been tension between Stabback and the mayor since Brown won the mayoralty on October 8 last year.
Brown’s transition team are known to have been less than impressed with the level of financial information provided to the new mayor on the state of the council’s books, and more recently there have been murmurings by the mayor and some councillors about Stabback’s lack of visible leadership during the recent weather events.
On the other hand, Stabback is understood to have felt left out of the loop on decisions by the mayoral office and had to deal with reports from staff about conversations with Brown in lifts at the council headquarters at Albert St in downtown Auckland.
Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown was greeted by chief executive Jim Stabback when he started work at the council. Photo / Michael Craig
“It was a case of very short interactions wherein staff were asked what job they did, and being left with a sense that it either might not be highly valued, or might be reviewed at some point,” Phil Wilson said, Auckland Council’s director of governance told Stuff in December.
The Herald has asked Stabback if he resigned because he could no longer work with Brown. A council spokeswoman said Stabback is not giving interviews.
The Herald understands Stabback informed Brown of his decision to resign yesterday. A short time later, Stabback informed his executive leadership team and councillors were told this morning at a governing body closed workshop.
“This is arguably one of the most challenging and rewarding leadership roles in New Zealand’s public sector, and I respect Jim’s decision to step down for personal reasons,” Brown said.
“He met with me to advise that he wished to terminate his contract with six months’ notice. This follows lengthy deliberation, and the process has been handled professionally and respectfully. Jim will continue to lead the council and deliver on our commitments to Aucklanders, and help us transition to new leadership.”
Stabback plans to stay on for six months to push forward with key challenges, including the ongoing emergency response and recovery from both the storm and Cyclone Gabrielle and this year’s budget containing deep cuts to address a $295 million budget hole.
One senior council staffer told the Herald: “It’s a bit of a shock and a bit of a shame. I really like the guy.”
Manurewa-Papakure councillor Angela Dalton. Photo / Dean Purcell.
Manurewa-Papakura councillor Angela Dalton said she was going to miss Stabback, saying he leads with calm leadership and was the right man for the job when the odds are against the council.
“He has my 100 per cent backing for his decision to leave for which I can only guess why, but he is a significant loss for Auckland Council and more broadly Auckland,” Dalton said on social media.
The shock resignation of Stabback is a big blow for the council organisation and follows a series of internal upheavals since the election of Wayne Brown as mayor in October last year.
On the night of his election, Auckland Transport chair Adrienne-Young Cooper resigned in response to calls from Brown for the whole board to step down. In December, the preferred candidate to fill the vacated chief executive role at Auckland Transport withdrew when the “environment” changed.
Auckland Transport chair Adrienne Young-Cooper resigned on election night. Photo / Michael Craig
Stabback took the reins as council chief executive in September 2020, delivering key programmes and initiatives over two and a half years that began with a global pandemic and more than 600 days of Covid-19 restrictions and will conclude with the aftermath of Cyclone Gabrielle and other severe weather events.
During this period, he managed the council’s government reform programme, implemented a review of council-controlled organisations, and undertook the unenviable task of achieving Emergency Budget and Recovery Budget savings totalling $218 million.
Auckland Council’s chief executive is appointed by the council through the Governing Body, initially for a term of up to five years, with the possibility of a second term of up to two years.
Brown acknowledged Stabback’s service and dedication to staff, the wider council group, and Aucklanders, and confirmed that the search for his successor will get underway soon.
Stabback spent much of his early working life in Australia in the financial services, telecommunications and technology sectors and credits his time at large service-based organisations with providing him with a strong focus on customer service delivery.
He moved to New Zealand in 2011 with his Kiwi wife and worked for Westpac before joining ACC as its deputy chief executive and chief operating officer.
When he started at the council, he said his focus would be on “delivery, performance and outcomes”.
The process of appointing a new chief executive will involve a recruitment agency seeking applicants. A selection panel, probably chaired by Brown, will then make a recommendation to the government body comprising all 20 councillors who are likely to conduct final interviews before deciding who gets the job.
