Mayor Martin Connelly said “The South Wairarapa District Council is delighted to announce the appointment of Mrs Janice Smith to the position of Chief Executive.

Mrs Smith is currently Group Manager Corporate Services with the Far North District Council. She has a proven track record of leading and managing in changing and challenging environments in senior management positions.”

Mayor Connelly says he is confident she is a great fit for the Council and the South Wairarapa community. The position has been ably managed by Paul Gardner as Interim CE for the last seven months.

“Local government is a complex business and we needed to choose someone who is well placed to understand the ever-changing landscape and the up-coming reform programmes.

Mrs Smith brings over 40 years’ experience across the public sector in both UK and New Zealand local government, with more than eight years in strategic leadership roles in local government. She was Acting CEO for three months, which coincided with Cyclone Gabrielle, when she acted as liaison between the Emergency Management Centre and the Mayor to ensure the channels of communication were maintained. She also had a key leadership role in Far North Waters Alliance, which is an alliance between the Council and their 3 waters contractor to deliver approx. $33m of operational and capital delivery to the community.”

Mrs Smith is a public sector trained accountant. She moved to New Zealand in 2005, with her husband and two daughters.

“We carried out a robust, in-house recruitment process, with the position attracting over 100 expressions of interest, the CE Recruitment Panel interviewed nine candidates and then three candidates were chosen for an interview with the full Council. All three short listed candidates were of high calibre, with a broad range of experience in senior roles in New Zealand,” Mayor Connelly said.

Mrs Smith says she and her family are delighted with the appointment and she is looking forward to joining and being part of the team in South Wairarapa.

She has been appointed for an initial term of three years.

ENDS

Media contact:
Cr Kaye McAulay
021 891 431
kaye.mcaulay@swdc.govt.nz