Council finally releases settlement payment to former CEO

It took more than six months, and required an intervention by the chief ombudsman, but Christchurch’s council has finally released its exit payment to former chief executive Dawn Baxendale.
The council announced in November last year it had accepted Baxendale’s resignation, after a tumultuous four years in the job, and a year short of her contract expiring. No payments were disclosed at the time, and the council’s statement said there would be no further comment. Her salary was almost $550,000 a year.
In March, Newsroom reported the council had made 22 payments, totalling $918,000, for severance, personal grievance settlements, and redundancies in 2023. We asked the council to disclose payments to Baxendale but it refused, citing sections of the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act regarding privacy, and information subject to an obligation of confidence.
We complained to the Office of the Ombudsman on March 1. The information was clearly in the public interest, we argued, “as it involves a public body spending public money, and a chief executive overseeing thousands of staff, and paid more than $500,000 a year”.
There was a precedent, Newsroom said, given the council released information about exit payments to its previous chief executive Tony Marryatt in 2013.
Chief ombudsman Peter Boshier released his final opinion on Wednesday of last week.
“Having considered all the issues raised, I have now formed the final opinion that the blanket refusal of your request was not justified,” Boshier wrote.
“Although a refusal of some information was justified under section 7(2)(a), in my opinion, the public interest in disclosure (for reasons of accountability) outweighs the need to withhold certain information.”
Boshier recommended the council release some information to Newsroom, and notify his office by October 2 of the steps taken to give effect to his recommendation.
Yesterday afternoon, the council’s manager of official information and privacy officer, Sean Rainey, said: “There was an agreed settlement between Mrs Baxendale and the council, both parties received separate legal advice and $126,026.78 was paid to Mrs Baxendale to resolve employment and privacy matters.”
“The contractual payments made will form part of the disclosed annual remuneration payment for Mrs Baxendale in the annual report.
“The council has no further comment.”
On the flip side of the chief ombudsman’s decision, is Baxendale’s right to privacy about confidential employment matters. That includes external advice about the chief executive’s performance.
Under Baxendale’s leadership, overloaded and underpaid staff left in droves, there was a clearout of the executive team, and the community’s confidence in the council plummeted. The council also struggled with high debt, and rising rates, sparking serious discussions about selling the city’s silverware – despite Mayor Phil Mauger’s promise to the contrary on the campaign trail.
Meanwhile, the search for a replacement chief executive continues. Three short-listed candidates were interviewed by Mauger and councillors two weeks ago.
The Press newspaper reported interim chief executive Mary Richardson didn’t apply for the job.
An anonymised statement from the city council said yesterday: “They are still in the middle of the recruitment process and the council hopes to confirm an appointment in early October.”