Public money not used to fly over pet

Oscar the beagle-labrador cross is not the most expensive dog in Christchurch.

The 3-year-old belongs to new city council chief executive Dawn Baxendale, who was due to bring the dog out from the UK to join her in early December.

Baxendale was given a ratepayer-funded sweetener of up to $30,000 to help her move to Christchurch – a common incentive used by organisations trying to attract top talent to senior positions.

Last week the council refused to answer a request by Stuff over how – or whether – Baxendale spent the fee, after deciding it would breach her right to privacy.

But three days later it backtracked, finally revealing yesterday that public money was not used to fly out Oscar. Under her contract, the fee cannot be used to relocate pets.

The council said Baxendale had claimed $6865 to date. She has 12 months to use the allowance from when she started her role in October.

It

declined

to

say

whether money had been spent on business class flights, saying that to reveal how she travelled and what flights cost would impinge on her privacy.

In October, Baxendale promised to ‘‘be as frugal as I can’’ with her move, but said it would cost her ‘‘significantly more’’ to relocate to Christchurch than what the council was funding.

The council reversed its decision not to reveal how Baxendale has used public money for her move after she told Chief Ombudsman Peter Boshier on Friday she was committed to ‘‘transparency and openness’’.

It comes weeks after the council was heavily criticised by the Ombudsman for a culture of secrecy among some of its top leaders.

Christchurch City Council chief executive Dawn Baxendale foot the bill for her dog’s relocation.