Palmerston North council chief executive steps down

Palmerston North City Council chief executive Paddy Clifford has announced his resignation.

Clifford’s contract was due to run out in September next year but he decided not to apply for another five years in the job. His resignation will take effect from the end of May 2017.

He said it was a coincidence that his announcement came out on the same day as Prime Minister John Key’s decision on Monday to quit.

Clifford was also citing the desire to spend more time with his family as key to his decision, but he insisted that, unlike the prime minister, he still had ‘‘something left in the tank’’.

He had personal family projects he wanted to spend time on, including genealogy and a trip back to Ireland after living in New Zealand for 30 years. He would be returning to the South Island to live to be closer to children and grandchildren.

Clifford said that in the past nine years he had been privileged to work with many excellent staff and elected members to develop the city.

His time at the council was characterised by steady progress while keeping a tight rein on finances, though there was also criticism about a lack of progress in driving some capital projects through to completion.

‘‘I have really enjoyed this time with the city council and in particular I’ve enjoyed working with neighbouring councils and various organisations in the region and throughout the country.’’

Mayor Grant Smith said he had not been expecting Clifford to resign, but could understand his desire to leave on his own terms rather than take the ‘‘brutal’’ chance that he might not get another contract.

He said the chief executive would be leaving the council and city in better shape than when he arrived.

Smith said it was one of Clifford’s greatest strengths that he treated everyone with respect. He had been a steady hand through the change of mayoralty in 2014-15.

‘‘We have not always seen eye to eye, but on the big things, we have. We have had that respect and I will be sorry to see him go.’’

Clifford has maintained a reasonably low public profile during his tenure, and he said that was deliberate and appropriate.

‘‘The face of the organisation, the person people look to, is the mayor in a democratically-elected institution.

‘‘The council is in a really good space at the moment. The city is really humming and we are playing a part in that as a council.’’