Statement from Christchurch Mayor Lianne Dalziel and Christchurch City Council Chief Executive Dr Karleen Edwards

We are sad to hear that Roger Sutton has today resigned as Chief Executive of the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority (CERA).

Roger Sutton has been a stand-out leader for our city and region. He has been a strong advocate for Christchurch following the 2010/11 earthquakes.

As CEO of Orion at this time, Roger took community engagement to a new level and never shied away from fronting the community whose interests he always had totally at heart. Residents will remember him turning up on his bike with maps in hand to community meetings held in local parks.

Given the leadership he showed in the aftermath of the quakes and his total commitment to Christchurch, he was the logical choice for CEO for the new Government Department, CERA.

He gave up so much to take this role, including a large drop in salary and he worked incredibly hard and long hours on behalf of Christchurch residents.

Roger had a huge challenge to establish and head a new Government department which employed a lot of staff not from Christchurch and who had not experienced first-hand the devastation of the earthquakes.

Despite the challenges of this unprecedented recovery structure, he maintained his commitment to his community and never shirked from speaking out on behalf of his city. In these difficult times, he was the voice of Christchurch.

When Karleen Edwards took up her new position this year as the incoming Chief Executive to the Council, Roger was enormously supportive and helped her with her transition into the role. She says they had a strong working relationship built on mutual trust and respect.

Roger Sutton has been a real asset to the city and our only hope is that his experience, passion, knowledge and desire to get his city back on its feet will not be lost to the Christchurch community.

We will be making no further comment.

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