Christchurch council tight-lipped over why two senior managers are off work

Thursday, 23 February 2023

Jane Davis has been a general manager at Christchurch City Council since mid-2021.

Two senior managers at Christchurch City Council are currently off work, but the council will not say why.

Head of three waters Helen Beaumont and Jane Davis, the general manager of infrastructure, planning and regulatory services, are “currently away from work”, council chief executive Dawn Baxendale said in a statement.

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Other council staff are temporarily filling their roles.

Baxendale said mayor Phil Mauger and councillors had been advised of the situation.

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Another general manager, Mary Richardson, was covering Davis’ portfolio, Baxendale said, while Brent Smith, the head of vertical capital delivery, had been brought in as the temporary three waters boss in place of Beaumont.

Baxendale’s statement did not say why the two managers were off work.

When Stuff asked for the council to answer this question, a spokeswoman said: “We have no further comment.”

Stuff understands that Beaumont and Davis were briefly removed from an internal online system this week.

Baxendale said there was a short “technical glitch” on Wednesday while adjusting the new staff responsibilities.

She said both Beaumont and Davis were back on “the council’s phone list and our email system.”

Davis is one of the most senior staff at the council.

She is one of five people on the executive leadership team headed by Baxendale, and joined the council in mid-2021. She was previously the chief executive of the Carterton District Council.

Beaumont has been at the council much longer and was previously head of strategic policy.

More recently she has been in charge of three waters, which has made her one of the more publicly visible council staff members.

As part of this role, she has been responsible for overseeing major wellhead improvements, chlorination of the city’s water, and the response to the November 2021 fire at the city’s wastewater plant.