13 September 2013

Council Announcement Welcomed

Shirley Papanui council candidates Ali Jones and Pauline Cotter are welcoming the announcement today that the Christchurch City Council has accepted the resignation of its CEO Tony Marryatt, effective from 30th of November this year.

The pair yesterday called for the council to “get a move on” over the Marryatt mess and it appears their call has been heard.

The Council employed Mr Peter Winder of McGredy Winder and Co to carry out the investigation and in media release from the City Council today, acting CEO, Jane Parfitt says the report resulting from that investigation found “…..that in normal times a Chief Executive would have been expected to be aware of the issues relating to accreditation, but found that Mr Marryatt was not aware of this situation until shortly before he informed the Council. The report stated that "Christchurch City Council is not in a business as usual situation".

“Now we can move forward,” says Jones, and Cotter agrees.

“The new council can now come in and work with our new mayor and to ensure the new CEO is someone who can take Christchurch forward, positively, working as part of a team focused on the bigger picture,” she says.

Jones says the bigger picture includes working closely and effectively with other key partners like the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority, to get some momentum for our communities with the recovery.

“It is time to work together and put the people of Christchurch first,” she says.

Cotter and Jones say those who supported Mr Marryatt when it came to approving a pay rise and re-employment with the council, should be prepared to front up and explain why they took the position they did.

“Councillors including Mrs Button and Mr Keown who are seeking re-election in our ward (Shirley Papanui) need to front up on this,” says Jones. “Do they still stand by their position in light of the report and the outcome today?”

Jones and Cotter are not running together, however as they stated yesterday, this is an extremely important issue about which they feel strongly. Both are hopeful that Christchurch people will use their votes to choose carefully those who will represent them around the council table.

ENDS

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