Shortlist made after 51 applied for CEO job

FIFTYONE people wanted to be Dunedin’s next top bureaucrat.

Dunedin Mayor Aaron Hawkins has confirmed the number who applied for the job of chief executive at the Dunedin City Council as councillors get down to the business of selecting a successful candidate.

Candidates from across New Zealand and overseas had applied, Mr Hawkins said.

He was encouraged by the response and ‘‘excited to have so many good candidates to choose from’’.

A shortlist would now be considered by the full council in a publicexcluded session. The agenda for that meeting was expected to be made public on Monday.

Sue Bidrose announced in June she was leaving the organisation after seven years as chief executive.

Two days later, the council said Wellingtonbased recruitment consultancy JacksonStone & Partners would help find her replacement.

On June 30, the council appointed Sandy Graham acting chief executive. Ms Graham announced shortly after she was applying for the top job.

Since then, the mayor and council have said they cannot answer requests for more information while the recruitment process was under way.

Yesterday, Mr Hawkins said the extent of interest in the role could not previously be disclosed as the council’s chief executive appointment committee, led by him, and the council’s consultant conducting the search continued to work through the process.

The committee had been delegated by the council to do this and had met repeatedly, including with the recruitment consultant, while keeping the wider council briefed on progress.

‘‘While a shortlist has now been settled on, that process is ongoing,’’ Mr Hawkins said in an emailed statement yesterday.

Any publicity around individual candidates was for the candidates themselves to decide on, he said, but the council was ‘‘clear about its obligations and has followed the proper process — in all respects — throughout the recruitment process’’.

‘‘Recent changes in privacy law make us more aware of the requirement to maintain privacy of individuals involved in the process.’’

He said he could not comment on individual candidates’ decisions on how public they wanted their candidacy to be.

Four recruitment companies submitted proposals to work with the council in the search, before JacksonStone & Partners was selected.