Auditor unable to probe dispute

The Office of the Auditor General says it doesn’t have the power to investigate a claim that Napier Mayor Bill Dalton expressed bias in the process of recruiting a council chief executive.

Former Napier city councillor John Harrison complained to the government watchdog that an email that Dalton sent to councillors last month indicated a bias towards re-appointing council chief executive Wayne Jack at the end of his contracted term.

In a letter to Harrison, the OAG said in the case of Dalton’s alleged predetermination over the top position, it did ‘‘not have an enforcement role’’.

‘‘Challenges to decisions involving possible non-pecuniary conflicts of interest (including predetermination, or bias, as you are alleging here) are matters for the courts,’’ the OAG said in its letter.

With the chief executive appointment process still under way, ‘‘the council has the opportunity to consider what measures, if any, it believes are necessary to ensure that the process is fair, and to reduce the risk of challenge of its decision’’, it said.

Dalton has previously dismissed the claims of bias as ‘‘nonsense’’.

In his email to councillors last month, Dalton said Jack had received intense personal attacks on social media and ‘‘as councillors I believe we need to stand by our man’’.

‘‘The purpose of this letter is to ask you all to show support to your chief executive,’’ he wrote.

Harrison said while he was disappointed with the outcome of his complaint, ‘‘it has alerted the public to the futility of outside applicants in applying for the role of CEO when the mayor has confirmed in writing his wish for the status quo to remain’’.

Dalton said he was pleased with the OAG’s decision and he hoped it had given Harrison ‘‘the assurance he needed to now lay the matter to rest’’.