Former CHB boss heading to Wairoa

John Freeman has been appointed as Wairoa District Council's acting chief executive.

The former Central Hawke's Bay District Council CE will be leading WDC while the recruitment process gets underway to replace former CEO Fergus Power.

Mr Power's last day was July 28, and he will now be moving to North Otago to take up the CEO role at Waitaki District Council, starting in September. In his three years as CE, Mr Power was said to have been instrumental in boosting the district, and "unleashing its potential".

"There have been a number of challenges that council has overcome in my time as CEO, but now we are looking to consolidate some of the more positive changes that have come to fruition," Mr Power said.

"Council is in very capable hands, with such a strong senior leadership team, and I wish them all the very best."

Mr Freeman officially started as acting CE in late July. He was CHB's CE for 12 years, leaving earlier this year.

"I have an affinity for Wairoa, it's a neat little town and it has similar sorts of issues to CHB, and some quite different issues," he said.

As he was still living in CHB, Mr Freeman would be staying in Wairoa part of the week, depending on what council business was on.

"My role is to make sure we continue to work for our community, meet our statutory obligations and that the organisation is working efficiently . . . and make sure the council is in a good spot for when the new CE starts."

Although his contract was due to end in September this year, he chose to step down earlier in order to travel to the United Kingdom during the Northern Hemisphere summer.

Wairoa Mayor Craig Little has acknowledged Mr Power's work as CEO.

"Because of the great work that Fergus and the staff at Council have done over the past few years, we can confidently say that Wairoa is now firmly on the world stage," he said.

The process is currently underway to search for a new CEO, with the council commissioning 
Equip (LGNZ's Centre of Excellence) to help in the search.

It was expected to take two to three months before a permanent replacement will be announced.

- Hawke's Bay Today

17 August 2017

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