Posts by Christopher Dempsey
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Hard News: Nobody wanted #EQNZ for Christmas, in reply to Rich of Observationz,
Um, aren’t all employees including the CEO (but not councillors, who are elected, not employed) employed by the council as a corporate institution. The councillors (aka Council with a capital) directly appoint the CEO who then appoints the staff. While the councillors can’t directly dictate who is employed and on what terms, they can set general policy as to employment terms including salaries, can they not?
Wearing said hat:
All employees excluding the CEO is employed by a corporate Council. The CEO's contract is with the body of councillors (Council).
The theory is that Councillors appoint a CEO and manage that contract, and it is the CEO's responsibility to hire people to carry out the duties and wishes of the Council, and it is the CEO that manages the employment contracts of the staff, as it is the CEO that hires them.
This prevents interference by Councillors in how staff carry out their jobs. For example, one councillor I knew of used to hide in the bushes at parks then jump out at staff to castigate them on how they should do the gardening (true story). The current Council - CEO - Council staff structure means that councillors cannot interfere with staff. They can only interfere with the CEO.
In practice, it means that while I receive excellent service from the staff, if I should need to complain about any aspect, I must direct my complaint to the CEO (as he is my only employee).
Now Council - CEO relationships are political, as they are wont to be, so effectively a very good CEO plays off various factions in Council shrewdly (it's been known to happen), but must always be careful to remain on side with the majority of Council.
From this perspective, the process of employing a CEO is not the value free exercise it should be (as appears to be the case in Christchurch), but that's not to insist that such employment process should be entirely value free; subjectivity has a part to play, as does personalities.
Doffing said hat...
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Hard News: Nobody wanted #EQNZ for Christmas, in reply to Caleb D'Anvers,
What is the council’s policy on pay rises?
Wearing my elected rep hat:
Council, that is, a body of elected representatives, can, by law, only have one employee, which is the CEO.
In turn, the CEO employs everyone else to do carry out the wishes and functions of Council.
In this respect, the conditions of contract are between the the Council (i.e. elected representatives) and the CEO it appoints. The Council is at liberty to choose any kind of condition or performance requirements for that person.
It would be Christchurch City Councillors (or the majority of them) who set Maryatt's pay and conditions. It is to them that one must direct questions.
Doffing said hat.
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Capture: Roamin' Holiday, in reply to Lilith __,
Tres gay.
Just for you, Christopher
;) Fairy wings maketh the man.
Thanks!
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Capture: Roamin' Holiday, in reply to Lilith __,
I have some nice photos of the blue/pink hydrangea, but I ended up using them for work so can't post them here. But the web provides other examples
All it needs is a few mirror balls and a gin. Tres gay.
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Capture: Roamin' Holiday, in reply to Lilith __,
I used to have a bush that flowered blue tinged with pink. I assume it was a special variety that did that!
It was gay.
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Capture: Roamin' Holiday, in reply to Russell Brown,
NICE! Like muchly. If that's an advertisement for an iPhone 4whatever the S means then I'm hypothetically sold.
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A friend of a friend on FB (who I don't know) said to my friend that the removal van had arrived, she's packed, and she'd like to tell the drivers just to keep on driving out of Chch north (i.e. to North Island)... my fear is that there will be a slow but steady stream of removal vans driving north from Chch over the year, which will not be noticed at all. This means various communities will be receiving distressed refugees, and those communities will need support so that they can adequately deal with the trauma that the refugees will be holding inside.
Big hugs to Chch, keep strong.
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Finishing PhD... wrapping it up to hand in early Jan, then my holiday starts.
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I'd like to wish all a very merry christmas, but more importantly, happy summer solstice! And if you feel like celebrating with the odd bonfire or two, I won't mind.
Have a lovely and safe time all.
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Hard News: Merry Christmas, Blossoms, in reply to Yamis,
The smallish Pohutakawa I planted out the front of our new house at the start of the year
will turn into the largest Pohutukawa you've ever seen and your new house will suffer. That or religiously prune it every year and place a caveat on the title to that effect so each new homeowner has to do the same.
Sorry to be grinch like, but trees grow. Big. Very Big.