New council could cancel QLDC CEO recruiter's contract

The company procured to recruit Queenstown Lakes District Council's new chief executive could have its contract cancelled by the new council.

Crux can reveal the recruitment agency currently holding the contract is Auckland-based JacksonStone.

On August 5, then Mayor Glyn Lewers emailed councillors to say CEO Mike Theelen would not seek another term and would leave in February.

Six weeks later, he announced that a recruitment company had already been engaged – without any involvement from the full council.

Lewers came under fire for the seemingly secret procurement process with councillor Niki Gladding saying it could erode confidence in the fairness and independence of the process.

Current mayor John Glover, then a council candidate, also raised questions about the process, calling it ‘ill-timed’.

Today, now mayor, Glover told Crux a decision about whether to continue with the recruiter that was procured pre-election, JacksonStone, would go before the new council.

“If they [councillors] don’t wish to continue with the existing one, they may well want to go back to the market,” he said.

“The recruiter that has been procured to date, hasn’t incurred any costs, but is equally also very well-respected.”

Glover said it was important the council didn’t feel pressured to make an appointment.

“The most important thing is that we get the right person for the job and that every councillor is fully comfortable with the process of engaging the recruiter and the process that we go through to define the attributes, the job description, the particular nuances that we’re looking for in a candidate.”

He said while it would be ideal for there to be a seamless transition from Theelen to a new chief executive and an interim may need to be appointed.

Now mayor, John Glover earlier raised questions about the procurement process.

Elected members are responsible for appointing a CEO and in her earlier criticism of the process, Gladding said the procurement plan didn’t appear to be open tender as it wasn’t listed on Government Electronic Tender Service.

There have been questions about whether the procurement and appointment of JacksonStone had followed due process.

Current QLDC CEO Mike Theelen told Crux pre-election the contract with JacksonStone was valid.

“The procurement was approved by the mayor on behalf of the council, but it is signed by officers that have delegation for the budgetary amounts. The procurement and appointment of a recruitment provider has followed appropriate process.

“The scope, process and ultimately the decision of who to appoint as chief executive will rest with full council. The engagement of the recruiter has been approved by an individual who holds the appropriate financial delegation to do so.”

JacksonStone was asked if the company would step back from the appointment until a proper process could be followed involving the full council. It directed Crux to the QLDC media team.

Glover's comments came as part of an interview about his first weeks in office. Full coverage of the interview to come this weekend, including the interview in full exclusive to Crux subscribers on substack.