Auckland Council chief executive Jim Staback has resigned midway through a five-year term

Auckland Council chief executive Jim Staback has resigned, Mayor Wayne Brown said today.

Stabak is stepping down as head of the country’s largest council in the middle of a five-year contract. He started work in September 2020.

The Herald understands that Stabback informed Brown of his decision to resign yesterday. A short time later, Stabback briefed his executive management team and advisers were told this morning at a closed-door meeting of the governing body.

“This is perhaps one of the most challenging and rewarding leadership roles in New Zealand’s public sector and I respect Jim’s decision to step down for personal reasons,” Brown said.

“He met me to tell me he wanted to terminate his contract with six months’ notice. This followed a lengthy discussion and the process was handled professionally and respectfully. Jim will continue to lead the council and deliver on our commitments to Aucklanders and help us transition to new leadership.”

Stabback also briefed his executive leadership team and plans to work with them to move forward with key challenges, including the ongoing emergency response and recovery from both the storm and Cyclone Gabrielle and this year’s budget containing deep cuts to address a $295 million budget hole.

A senior council official told the Herald: “It’s a bit of a shock and a bit of a shame. I really like this guy.

Staback’s shock resignation is a major blow to the council’s organization and follows a series of internal upheavals since the election of Wayne Brown as mayor last October.

On the night of his election, Auckland Transport chairman Adrienne-Young Cooper resigned in response to Brown’s calls for the entire board to stand down. In December, the preferred candidate to fill the vacated chief executive position at Auckland Transport stepped down as the “environment” changed.

Stabback took the reins as the council’s chief executive in September 2020, delivering key programs and initiatives over two and a half years that began with a global pandemic and more than 600 days of Covid-19 restrictions and will end with the aftermath of the cyclone Gabrielle and other severe weather events.

During this period he managed the government’s council reform programme, carried out a review of council-controlled organisations, and undertook the unenviable task of delivering emergency and recovery budget savings totaling $218 million.

The Chief Executive of Auckland Council is appointed by the council through the Governing Body, initially for a term of up to five years, with the possibility of a second term of up to two years.

Brown acknowledged Staback’s service and dedication to staff, the wider council group and Aucklanders and confirmed that the search for his successor would begin shortly.

Staback spent much of his early working life in Australia in the financial services, telecommunications and technology sectors and credits his time in large service-based organizations that provided him with a strong focus on delivering customer service.

He moved to New Zealand in 2011 with his Kiwi wife and worked for Westpac before joining ACC as its Deputy CEO and COO.

When he started at the council he said his focus would be on “delivery, performance and results”.

Stabback earns a salary of $630,000.

The process of appointing a new CEO will involve a recruitment agency looking for candidates. A selection panel, likely to be chaired by Brown, will then make a recommendation to the government body, including all 20 advisers, who are likely to hold final interviews before deciding who gets the job.