KCDC Awards Big Pay Rise to Chief Executive
The Kapiti Coast District Council, which faces a multi- million dollar blowout in major project costs, is reported to have approved a $44,000 pay rise for its chief executive Pat Dougherty.
The chief executive is directly accountable to the elected Council for all spending.
According to our sources, Councillors increased the pay package of the chief executive to $285,000 during his public-excluded annual performance review at the end of last year.
But one of the strongest critics of the KCDC performance, the former Mayoral candidate Chris Turver has called on Mr Dougherty to decline the pay rise and take a voluntary pay cut to help reduce the $10 million overspend.
Mr Turver says the pay rise, of 18.2 percent, is not only grossly insensitive in an economic climate in which most people get no, or minimal, increases but raises serious questions about the judgement of the Council.
“How can anybody be given a pay rise of that scale when the ratepayers who pay the salary find that the Council’s performance is so poor that their money is needed to fund major project blowouts?
“It would now be seen that local government rewards – rather than penalises – overspending.”
Views of Mayor Sought
As the CEO is by convention unable to reply to criticism like that voiced by Mr Turver, the Kapiti Indpendent has asked Mayor Jenny Rowan and the KCDC’s Communications Manager for comment.
As soon as the Independent receives a Council reply this will be published.
Mr Turver’s conclusion
In his statement, Mr Turver concludes: “The $44,000 pay rise alone would be enough to support a family of four and would still leave the chief executive enough to exist on his current package of $241,000.
“There is something seriously wrong with a system which rewards failure and we should be told who proposed the pay rise and if all elected Councillors voted for it.”
Further Information: Chris Turver 06-3643640 or 027-230
At the first council meeting of the year on 26 January there was public outrage at the 18% pay rise for the Chief Executive.
Mayor Jenny Rowan justified the pay rise by saying the project blowouts were not in the spotlight when the council made the salary decision last year.
I understand the secret meeting that voted for the increase was on 1st December.
As far as I can tell from media reports these project blowouts were well known in early December.
So who is telling ‘porkies’?
The Dompost editorial (27 January) describes the situation in Kapiti Coast District and its Council perfectly. It is possible that readers may not be aware that there is an organisation of local body CEO’s entitled The NZ Society of Local Government Managers (SOLGM) They meet annually. This is where the nations CEO’s conspire and invent new strategies to inflict financial hardship on unwitting and unwilling ratepayers. They discuss grand, nice to have projects that will after several attempts, be adopted by Councillors. These projects will usually be discussed behind closed doors as will the discussions on how to raise the general level of their salaries. CEO’s and Mayors support each other. The Mayors need the CEO’s support to ensure their own salary increases and vice versa. Is conspiracy just another form of corruption? We are doomed. The Americans have a saying “you can’t fight City Hall. I’ll wager 100 to 0ne that Kapiti CEO will not follow the Christchurch CEO and refuse his increase. I used to consider Councillor Gurunathan to be one of us and I voted for him. It seems since his election he is one of them. Councillors who ignore public opinion and support extravagant salaries should not be reelected next year
Have a nice year
Robin McKenzie
Raumati Beach
Sorry, second version not required
Robin McKenzie
Sorry Jill you are right, but KCDCC were (until the govt changed their mind) tits deep in building the Link Road, which in the light of peak oil is equally as insane as Transmission Gully, the Aquatic centre, and the new council buildings.
I’m just waiting for the ‘I told you so’ moment 😉
Here is one http://oilcrash.com/articles/wake_up2.htm
The CE needs a pay rise for parity with other similar CEs? Really? All it says to me is that there is an entrenched attitude of entitlement and inflated sense of importance among local government officials in New Zealand.
Has the council not seen all the headlines screaming about the need to reduce the gap between rich and poor in this country? I, as a public servant, have been subject to a pay freeze for the last 3 years . I fully expect to have my pay frozen for the next 3 years as well under this National government.
And Pat Dougherty needs a $44,000 pay rise to keep up with the Joneses. It’s an outrageous insult to all rate payers considering project cost blow-outs and projected massive rates increases.
He should take a leaf ut of Tony Maryattt’s book and refuse the pay increase.
While I agree with most of the sentiments expressed above, for the sake of accuracy I do want to point out that it is not KCDC who “presides” over the building of the expressway, as Robert Atack claims. The expressway is a Stephen Joyce/National Government initiative that our council initially did its best to prevent.
$285,000? I am still trying to figure out why anybody even needs $241,000 per year. Either he and the rest of the council circus are plain stupid with money or they are flipping greedy buggers!
I personally can’t wait until the world global financial system finally melts down totally and all their loot becomes worthless!
What is this crap in the Dominion this morning, about how Pat deservers all this extra money so as to bring him up to anyone else stuffing up an equal number of peoples lives? – matching other CEOs
I don’t think the population of Kapiti has gone up 18.2% since Pat took on the job, so he knew the numbers when he came here, it was good enough for his first year or so. What has changed?
Maybe he was just on trial for the first year? And what a bunch of ‘Tickle Me Elmos’ most of the councillors are. Maybe they smell pay rises as well?
Rats and pigs are always first at the feeding trough.
Maybe next year people should only pay their rates + inflation – pay rises?
Our home valuations drop, rates still go up and an occasionally apparently incompentent Town Clerk gets a huge rise, so I guess he won’t be leaving Kapiti, as I am thinking of doing because I am sick of the constant muddle and controversy.
In the 2011 – 2012 Annual Plan, the forecast of expenditure for the Council Chambers and Offices upgrade is $3.763 Million. Council have now approved an expenditure of $8.2 Million for the building upgrade. I want to know WHO estimated the $3.763 M and HOW was it derived. I also want to know HOW has it raised so dramatically to $8.2 M. Surly someone must be responsible? Can we have any faith whatsoever in council’s forecasts of capital expenditure in the future.
I agree with Robert that abject failure appears to be richly rewarded.
With the brilliant job Pat is doing! What is another dollar (or just a bit under) per Kapiti citizen, per year?
In a few more years we will be able to look back at a brilliant half-built dry swimming pool, and an expressway to nowhere, and all the other projects this current bunch of clowns are presiding over; they might be able to have $tourist$ tours?
Admittedly the pool and the road haven’t started yet, and I have my doubts that they will, I expect the writing announcing economic collapse will be clearly on the wall by the end of this year. And if the idiots try to play this business-as-usual game much longer, even most of the apathetic masses might actually wake up!
Of course it might take petrol rationing for the coin to drop. I just hope they can keep the food supply functioning (which is a project the KCDC clowns could investigate).
As we can read in the long term plan, KCDCC have taken Peak Oil to heart. (As I said, Pat IS worth all that money, he will be looked upon as the most far sighted chief executive in New Zealand – yeah right!).
Have they done a study on how reliable the food supply would be with a 50% shortfall in petrol supplies? Do they know which service stations will be closed? Do they understand they face 80% unemployment and a 80% shortfall in rate payments? Do they understand neighbourhood watch is one of the best ways to maintain law and order when the cops aren’t a phone call away? That is why they all belong to a group, and promote it, as they know self help might be our only help.
So Pat good on ya mate, you are worth every cent. You can go to bed … and the grave … with a clear conscience.
Remember folks we now live in the age in which abject failure is richly rewarded.
Gotta love Mayor Rowan’s comment – ”This is a necessary catch up and reflects our confidence in the ability of our CE to drive projects that will make a real difference to this district for years to come. I remind our ratepayers and residents that the Council is ever mindful about the cost impact of major projects and will be directing staff to seek to trim budgets during the Long-Term Plan process that begins next month.”
Real difference being rates increases of 50% over next four years! Debt maxed out for next who knows how many years. And perhaps the Council would like to be mindful that community consultation feed back was to NOT proceed with these projects in the current economic climate (and that was before the additional $ms required due to project cost blow outs), to live within means of ratepayers’ ability to afford rates and general cost of living, given that our median income is the third lowest in the Wellington Region.