That 15% pay rise - Theelen and Lewers' biggest mistake yet

Analysis

Any responsible and socially aware chief executive, government or private, would have the common sense to decline a 15 percent pay rise in today's economic climate. 

For a politician it would be political suicide and in private enterprise a 15 percent pay rise would not even get past the first hurdle of a remuneration committee or board of directors. Shareholders would be baying for blood and multiple resignations if it ever was allowed to happen. A company's share price would drop like a stone.

And yet yesterday, September 25, 2024, the Queenstown Lakes District Council announced, without any apparent apology or embarrassment, that chief executive Mike Theelen's pay would go up by $64,486, or 15.5 percent, from his current $415,000 to $479,486.

The $415,000 reflected an eight percent pay rise last year, when things were almost as tough in terms of the economy and controversial council rate rises.

To put the figure in perspective, the increase alone is more than the average New Zealand wage of $53,040. The prime minister gets paid $484,200.

Mr Theelen is an unusual chief executive. He's clever and can come across as urbane, even charming, when the mood strikes him. He uses his native intellect to create some strong defence mechanisms, his favourite being the welfare of his staff. Virtually any criticism of Mr Theelen can be countered by him saying that the welfare of his staff is uppermost in his approach to the job. 'Thank the staff' is a mantra that Mr Theelen instills in our elected councillors with almost cult-like insistence.

There's another side to Mr Theelen's skills and intellect. He's very popular with politicians and other local government influencers. I personally got an amazing insight into this in a recent encounter on a plane from Queenstown to Wellington, with government minster Shane Jones. I was on my way to meet Minister Jones at the Beehive, so meeting him on the Air NZ flight seemed like a real bonus. We chatted for a few minutes and he then confided in me that he was a great fan of our mayor: "Yes, great guy, love his style....what's his name? Oh yes...Theelen, Mike Theelen".

It's not surprising Mr Theelen could be mistaken for being our mayor. Glyn Lewers is not a natural showman or extrovert and he's even managed at times to isolate himself from his fellow elected members. Mr Lewers has often refused to talk to Crux, perhaps because he deems our stories to be too 'negative', while Mr Theelen rarely talks to Crux because he thinks he doesn't have to - that's the job of his communications team.

So - that 15.5 percent pay rise. Mr Theelen and Mr Lewers, you'd think, would have discussed the political risk and public perception of such a massive pay increase during a financial crisis over council spending and council debt. But such a conversation almost certainly did not take place. Both men clearly felt such issues were of no importance. Even children having such a conversation would drop the idea within seconds.

The only conclusion that we can draw is that any consideration of public perception and political risk was not even on their joint radar. 

However, it gets worse - much worse. Speaking to the Wānaka App in the wake of yesterday's pay rise one of the three QLDC councillors on the council's chief executive pay review committee, Lyal Cocks (the others are Lisa Guy and mayor Glyn Lewers), revealed some of the astonishing (and public excluded) thinking behind agreeing to the 15.5 percent pay rise.

"'The role is a big role,' he said, adding that Mike is managing a range of issues based on political decisions, including the controversial Manawa and Lakeview projects," the app reports.

Councillor Cocks seems to forget that the twin disasters of Manawa and Lakeview are in reality owned by Mr Theelen.

He then went on, "Mike’s key performance indicators (KPIs) are reviewed each year and last year new KPIs were included, for example more detail on council’s capital expenditure and 'quick wins'", the app reports.

"Mike performed well on ‘quick wins’, such as the council’s 'quick and effective' response to the cryptosporidium outbreak late last year, and the response to the directive from the Local Government Commission for QLDC to prepare an action plan to address perceived inequities with the Wānaka-Upper Clutha Ward."

These statements will likely leave ratepayers speechless. Arguably it was on Mr Theelen's watch that the QLDC decided to spend approximately $100 million on the debt that is the Lakeview luxury apartments rather than the much needed water filters to avoid risks like cryptosporidium and a poll of Wānaka residents would surely not support Councillor Cocks' view about the effectiveness of Mr Theelen sorting out "perceived inequities with the Wānaka-Upper Clutha Ward".

If there's any fairness or logic left in the world this 15.5 percent pay increase will be the beginning of the end for both Mr Theelen and Mr Lewers. It's tempting to say "they must think we are stupid".

The truth is that they don't seem to think about us at all.

The last five years' QLDC community survey results - from 2019 on the left of each chart to 2023 on the right, with the percentage of people saying they are either satisfied or very satisfied with QLDC.

In a very theatrical way the next QLDC Community Satisfaction Survey launches soon and that survey also featured a 15% number last year - we believe the lowest level of local council community satisfaction in NZ. Can Mr Theelen and Mayor Lewers break their own record and at what cost?