QLDC boss Mike Theelen reported to be shortlisted for Christchurch Council CEO

Crux understands that Queenstown Lakes District Council CEO Mike Theelen has applied for, and may be shortlisted for, the position of chief executive at the Christchurch City Council.

The job was advertised in July after previous Christchurch City Council chief executive Dawn Baxendale left the position with a reported payout of $126,000 “to resolve employment and privacy matters”.

Ms Baxendale's salary was $548,548.

Mr Theelen received a controversial pay rise of 15.5 percent just a few days ago from the Queenstown Lakes District Council, taking him to $479,000 a year. He received an eight percent pay rise the previous year.

The QLDC has refused to reveal the key performance indicators or other metrics that helped determine the latest pay rise.

Crux sent the following questions to Mr Theelen at 4pm on Tuesday via his offical QLDC email and by text to his personal mobile number.

Crux checked with QLDC today to make sure the phone number was correct (it was in his signature only a few weeks ago) but council staff did not respond. We were however told that Mr Theelen is on leave until October 14 and is not in the office today (October 2). Council communications staff say he's been on leave since Monday, September 29.

Mr Theelen arrived in Queenstown in February 2016 as QLDC’s new chief executive with one significant black mark against his name and reputation. That black mark came from former High Court judge Sir John Hansen who headed a government-appointed review into the rebuild of Christchurch following the earthquakes.

Sir John singled out Mr Theelen, who was in charge of the council’s planning department, for particular criticism saying that he seemed surprisingly ill-informed about the process that he was supposed to be controlling. There were multiple calls for Mr Theelen’s resignation or sacking then, in particular from local developers who wanted to speed up the Christchurch rebuild and recovery process.

This was at a time when Mr Theelen’s then boss, Christchurch City Council chief executive Tony Marryatt, was the focus of public outrage over large pay rises. Mr Marryatt was eventually forced out of office after the council was stripped of its building consent accreditation – but he still took a $500,000 “resignation package” on leaving. His tenure was covered in controversy with 4,000 people at one stage attending a public protest rally against him.

Both Mr Marryatt and Mr Theelen originated from Hamilton City Council.

In the QLDC's own 2024 community satisfaction survey council staff and management, under Mr Theelen's control, received a 15 percent satisfaction rating, believed to be the lowest in the country.

Mr Theelen took a council funded trip to the United Kingdom earlier this year, with part of the trip being declared as "personal".

He was also responsible for the estimated $100 million QLDC loss on the luxury Lakeview apartment project over which he had sole delegated authority as well as the council managed $128 million, 670 metre long 'road to nowhere' project that is yet to be completed.