Christchurch City Council boss Dawn Baxendale gets $18,000 pay rise

Friday, 10 December 2021

Dawn Baxendale has been the chief executive of the Christchurch City Council since October 2019.

The boss of Christchurch's city council is getting an $18,000 pay rise, but some councillors voted against it, with one saying she's “well rewarded and well-recognised already”.

City councillors signed off on the pay rise for chief executive Dawn Baxendale during a closed-door meeting on Thursday.

Her salary, leave and superannuation package has increased by $18,400, to $553,054 from $534,600.

Her base salary will be $502,425, which is 1.5 per cent higher than last year, while the leave and superannuation package totals $50,629 – a 2 per cent increase.

Baxendale’s total pay is increasing from $534,600 to $553,054.

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Jake McLellan says Baxendale has done a good job and maintained his confidence, but he doesn’t think she should be paid more.

Stuff understands some councillors voted against the rise and some abstained.

Baxendale has been the council chief executive since October 2019.

Phil Mauger says he would pay Baxendale more because she's doing “one hell of a job”.

Cr Jake McLellan said he and three other councillors voted against a pay rise. “I just thought that in the times we're in at the moment, more wasn't warranted.”

McLellan said Baxendale had done a good job and maintained his confidence, but added: “She's well rewarded and well-recognised already.”

Mayoral aspirant and councillor Phil Mauger said he voted in favour of the final rise, but added if it were up to him, he would pay Baxendale more, “because she is doing one hell of a job”.

Mayor Lianne Dalziel says Baxendale has done in an excellent job in her first two years as chief executive.

Stuff understands an unsuccessful amendment was put forward by Cr Sam MacDonald to increase Baxendale’s pay by a similar amount, but with a greater contribution made in the base salary and lesser contribution in the superannuation package.

Mauger said he supported this idea.

MacDonald did not wish to comment on the meeting or how he voted, but did say he preferred to make pay increases to base salaries.

“I think that’s more transparent to the public,” he said.

The salary offered to Christchurch City Council's new chief executive, Dawn Baxendale, was criticised by some. (First published July 2019)

MacDonald described Baxendale as “highly competent” and said she gave clear and objective advice.

Cr Aaron Keown said he abstained from the final vote because he had an issue with all public sector chief executive salaries. He wanted people in these positions to have their salaries locked – and only have increases to match the rate of inflation.

Christchurch was lucky to have Baxendale, he added.

Mayor Lianne Dalziel said Baxendale had done an excellent job “in extremely challenging circumstances” during her first two years as chief executive.

“She has steered the organisation through the social and economic pressures of the Covid-19 pandemic and has put the organisation in a strong financial position,” she said.

In the 2020-21 financial year, Baxendale took a $50,000 pay cut to her $495,000 base salary, due to Covid-19.

The council later confirmed a $48.3 million operating profit for that financial year.

The council said Baxendale’s performance merited an increase greater than $18,000, but she did not get more due to calls to restrain the pay of senior executives in publicly-owned companies.

This year Baxendale has overseen major changes to the council’s second and third-tier management structure.

The two-stage restructure is removing 33 management roles, creating 21 new ones, and is calculated to save ratepayers an estimated $1.3m to $1.5m a year.

Baxendale is still paid less than the heads of key council-owned businesses.

In the year to June, Christchurch International Airport boss Malcolm Johns was paid $918,140, and Lyttleton Port Company boss Roger Gray – who is leaving to join Ports of Auckland – was paid $812,000.

It is also less than one of her predecessors, Tony Marryatt, who had a final salary package of $538,529 and whose $68,000 salary increase in 2012 to led to a 4000-strong street protest.

That package, adjusted for inflation, would equate to about $707,000 today.

Baxendale’s direct predecessor Karleen Edwards earned $415,000 a year.

The city council employed 2684 full and part-time staff at the end of June this year.

Some 584 of those people, including Baxendale, earned more than $100,000 a year, while 1087 earned less than $60,000.

The council's annual staff costs are $202.8m.