Queenstown Council and CEO Feeley adequately managed housing accord conflict

Friday 16th October 2015

Queenstown Lakes District Council and its chief executive Adam Feeley have been given a 'pass' mark by the Office of the Auditor-General in the way they managed a potential conflict over Feeley's interest in family land being considered by the council for a special housing area, but could have done a few things better.

The investigation found the council, Feeley and senior staff "acted responsibly and endeavoured to manage the conflict appropriately" and took appropriate steps to mitigate any potential problems, but should have taken legal advice on how the proposal would affect Feeley's ability to operate as chief executive, Auditor-General Lyn Provost said in her overview.

The Auditor-General's office accepted it was reasonable for council to rely on advice the government watchdog gave on how to manage the conflict, but said that didn't excuse Mayor Vanessa van Uden from seeking external legal advice on how the conflict would stifle Feeley's ability to advise council on special housing areas.

"In our view, the conflict has affected the chief executive's ability to meet his responsibilities," Provost said. "He has not been able to advise the council about special housing areas and has not been able to provide leadership to council staff in this area. However, the council has worked around this to fill the gaps."

The Auditor-General's office launched the investigation in May after several members of the public raised concerns about Feeley's involvement, including what hand he played in developing the housing accord and the council’s policy before he declared an interest.

The council agreed a housing accord with the Minister of Housing in October last year aimed at building up to 1,300 affordable houses in the area, with a particular focus on the Wakatipu Basin. A week later, on Oct. 30, the council adopted a policy setting out its criteria and process for assessing expressions of interest for special housing areas. It called for expressions of interest in early November.

In late November, Feeley advised the mayor that his family intended expressing an interest in creating a special housing area on land it owned and he proposed steps on how the council could manage his interest in the matter. That included him withdrawing from discussion on the issue at council meetings and being excluded from any working group.

His family subsequently submitted an expression of interest in December. Council later decided not to proceed with the Arrowtown proposals that included Feeley's submission.

The Auditor-General's report found Feeley didn't fully comply with staff disclosure requirements by not filling out a form having told the mayor and two of his general managers about the issue, describing it as "unfortunate" as "a chief executive should lead by example in terms of complying with policies and requirements applying to employees."

The report said Feeley and the council managed his expression of interest adequately, and that he didn't have any "inside advantage" during the process.

Provost said senior local body employees need to consider carefully the effect of the private pursuits on their ability to do their job.

"This requires judgement and thinking through possible scenarios, including whether the conflict might affect other spheres of responsibility in the future," she said. "Although all employees of local authorities have the same rights and privileges as private individuals, those rights and privileges must be considered in the light of their responsibilities to the local authority. In some instances, a choice might have to be made."

BusinessDesk.co.nz

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