Timaru District Council recruiting for director for holdings company

Thursday, 12 October 2023

The Timaru District Council is recruiting a director for its holdings company, which could see the number of councillors appointed to the board reduced to one.

The council’s advertisement seeking an experienced governance director for Timaru District Holdings Limited (TDHL), says the position had been made available “with a directorship coming up for rotation”.

Council chief executive Bede Carran said under the council’s external governance appointments policy, the rotation happens every year, and this year it is councillor Peter Burt’s directorship up for rotation.

Carran said Burt is eligible to reapply for the position.

In June 2020, a decision was made to restructure the board of TDHL following a council meeting.

A vote was passed, five votes to four, to change the makeup of the board from three councillors and two independent directors, to three independent directors and two councillors, with one of the independent directors to be made chairperson.

The changes came following recommendations in the MartinJenkins Report​, which was commissioned after TDHL’s controversial proposal to sell its 47.5% share of Alpine Energy. The proposal was made under the leadership of then-mayor Damon Odey, who also chaired TDHL.

The report looked into the make-up of the TDHL board, the appointment process, competency framework and performance monitoring framework.

The report recommended “there be an independent chair, and then an equal number of independent and councillor directors, with a view to transitioning to more independent directors than councillor directors over time”.

It also recommended the mayor should step down from TDHL “to strengthen formal monitoring and accountability mechanisms”.

The TDHL board is made up of a chairperson, Mark Rogers, who is an independent director, deputy chairperson Rebecca Keoghan, also an independent director, sitting councillors Sally Parker and Peter Burt, independent director Aaron Bethune, and general manager Frazer Munro.

In TDHL’s annual report, for the year ending June 2023, the chairperson was paid $60,000, the deputy chair $43,750, and the other directors $35,000.

TDHL is a council-controlled organisation which is 100% owned by the council. Its purpose is to invest, hold and manage commercial assets, adding value and strategic support to the Timaru District.

The skills sought for the directorship include – at least five years’ experience as a director with an organisation of similar size, strong financial literacy, high level of commercial acumen, relevant sector experience, experience in information technology, cybersecurity and/or the digital economy, risk and compliance expertise.

The successful applicant would also need to demonstrate a high level of emotional intelligence and reputation for trustworthiness, openness and integrity, the ability to challenge assumptions and “ensure discussions are constructive in a strategic environment and the capacity to commit sufficient time to the role”.

The council said it is anticipated that the commitment for this directorship will include approximately seven face-to-face meetings, in Timaru, and four online meetings annually.

Applications close on October 29.