FNDC chief departing next week
Far North District Council chief executive Blair King is leaving the local authority this month after resigning just 10 months into the job. King is staying on as council chief executive until May 10, working out his three-month notice period after resigning on February 10.
King started work at the council on April 1 2022, after being appointed to the role in December 2021. Leaving on May 10 will see him departing the council’s shortest permanently appointed chief executive’s tenure.
Local Democracy Reporting Northland asked the council in February when King’s last day at work was, but it did not respond to this question.
The council has since, last month, confirmed the chief executive’s departure date, after further questioning. It has not said why King resigned.
Council kowhāi (deputy mayor) Kelly Stratford, said King continued to work at council offices, and remotely as meetings and staff and stakeholder relationships required. The council’s head office is in Kaikohe.
King did not respond when emailed directly by Local Democracy Reporting Northland about his resignation.
Before starting at the Far North District Council, King wrapped up 12 years as Tararua District Council chief executive in October 2020. After that, he was the interim chief executive of the Carterton District Council.
His December 2021 Far North District Council appointment came when then-mayor John Carter and deputy mayor Ann Court helmed. They also made up a third of the council’s then-sixmember executive review committee with Court as chairperson, Stratford as deputy.
The committee comprised 60% of the council’s 10 elected members. Court said in a December 2022 Northern Advocate article about King’s appointment that many experienced, high-calibre candidates had applied for the job.
However, the selection panel hadn’t been able to ignore King’s considerable local government experience, particularly with a council sharing similar challenges to those experienced by the Far North.
‘‘Like the Far North, Tararua is reliant on its rural economy, has a small ratepayer base and must maintain spatially dispersed core assets and services to keep its remote communities connected. Blair is familiar with Northland and I believe his extensive local government experience will prove to be a great asset,’’ Court said.
The October 2022 local government elections saw Carter retire and current kahika (mayor) Moko Tepania elected to the top political role and Stratford as kowhā i.
In November, Local Democracy Reporting Northland asked Tepania about aspects of his working relationship with King.
‘‘As I am sure you will appreciate, as a good employer and respecting privacy, we have a policy to not comment on an individual employment matters in any way,’’ Tepania said at the time.
The new council almost doubled the committee’s size to include all now 11 elected representatives. Tepania became committee deputy chairperson. Its quorum doubled in size, to six.
Stratford said a paper was to be presented to the committee regarding the appointment process for King’s replacement.
‘‘This will consist of options for contracting a recruitment company to facilitate the process,’’ Stratford said.
King, a chartered professional engineer, was raised on a Tangowahine dairy farm. He started his career at the Kaipara District Council.
– Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air