Mayor announces resignation of Chief Executive Dr Lesley McTurk

Christchurch Mayor Garry Moore today announced that Chief Executive, Dr Lesley McTurk has tendered her resignation with effect from January 2007 to accept the role as Chief Executive at Housing New Zealand.

"It is with profound regret that I have accepted Dr McTurk's resignation. She has carried out the reforms that Council mandated her to do in a most successful way. She has attracted a young executive and leadership group of 50 people that has turned around service levels and at the same time achieved significant savings," said Garry Moore today at a Council meeting.

"We have been fortunate to have had one of New Zealand's leading local government chief executives who has achieved our mandate to reform the organisation in three years. "Our research shows that resident satisfaction rates have shot up to 70% from below 50% following the reforms implemented by Dr McTurk. There is no better measure than this.

"The recent Performance Excellence Study Award for Council is a key indicator of how well our Council organisation and its entire staff are performing for the City. "Dr McTurk will take up a new role early in the new year. In the meantime we will commence an executive search for a new leader for the Council organisation. We will be considering internal candidates from the executive group as well as external candidates.

"With the reforms well advanced, the next phase will be more one of consolidation and building on the successes that we are now enjoying as a Council and as a city," said Mayor Garry Moore.

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