Redundancies revealed after CEO’s abrupt departure
The number of redundancies, personal grievance payouts and resignations at the Grey District Council increased in the last two years of former boss Paul Morris’ tenure.
Morris resigned last month, effective immediately, after about four years in the role.
Figures released under the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act show the council spent $269,949.74 on five redundancies and $38,650 on three personal grievance claims last year. There were no personal grievances payouts in the two years before that.
In the 2021-22 financial year, the council spent $387,249 on another five redundancies. It spent nothing on redundancies in 2020-21.
The number of resignations during Morris’ tenure was 148 (37 per year on average), compared with 86 in the three years (an average of 28 a year) before he arrived.
Morris started as chief executive in April 2020. In July 2021, he announced the council would become customer-focused after a review uncovered an environment of “mistrust and division”.
All four senior managers decided not to reapply for jobs after their roles were disestablished and replaced with three group managers in September 2021.
In 2022, Morris announced he was culling 14 roles and creating eight new ones, saving $1.1 million. However, the council’s 2022 annual report noted an unbudgeted spend of $1.1m on consultants.
The 2023 annual report revealed a total operating deficit of $3.9m. It spent $41.3m – $7.8m more than the $33.4m it had budgeted.
The report said $5.4m was “due to increased costs associated with consultants and contractors”, plus “professional fees” to ensure compliance with legislation, and the final stage of the customer-focused project.
According to surveys, residents’ satisfaction with the council’s overall performance dropped to 59% in 2022, compared with 70% in 2021 and 81% in 2020.
At the time Morris’ resignation was announced, mayor Tania Gibson said he was leaving “to pursue further opportunities available to him”.
However, a source said councillors and the mayor had a “loss of confidence” in some of the changes. The restructure had cost a lot and some councillors had questioned whether it was value for money.
Just days after Morris’ resignation, councillors appointed Paul Pretorius as interim chief executive.
Pretorius had been council boss for 22 years before retiring in May 2020.
Gibson said yesterday the council was still waiting to see the outcome of the customer-focused programme. The use of consultants was common across the sector, but elected representatives were keen to get them off council books, she said.
The council was working with a recruitment company and expected the chief executive position to be advertised next week. “It’s a strong labour market for finding chief executives, so that is good.”
The council’s draft 2024-25 annual plan is out for consultation. It includes a 13.65% average rate rise what Pretorius called a “back to basics” budget.
In a statement, he said he recognised community frustration about the amount of money spent on consultants. “We have removed much of this allocation from our budgets as we get back to basics and do as much as we can in-house with our very capable team.”