Embattled CEO tapped for top job — MP

The CEO, who is on paid leave of up to $13,000 a week, was not interviewed with the majority of candidates, writes Stephen Ward.

Te Pū kenga’s embattled chief executive Stephen Town was shoulder tapped for the role and interviewed some time after other candidates , says National’s tertiary education spokesperson.

Town is on leave from the Hamilton-headquartered organisation, earning up to $13,000 a week, apparently till at least the end of 2022, for yet-to-be-disclosed reasons.

National’s Penny Simmonds, a former chief executive at the Southern Institute of Technology, confirmed to Stuff yesterday that she was part of an extensive stakeholder advisory group involved in interviewing candidates for the job Town eventually was appointed to.

Town was not in the first round of interviews several years ago, Simmonds said.

‘‘He was definitely not in the mix of having applied when we interviewed for the first time.’’

Subsequently, the then chairperson of Te Pū kenga, Barry Jordan, had inferred that someone suitable for the role may be shoulder-tapped, she said.

On a second day of interviews ‘‘some time later’’ she was involved in interviewing just one other person for the job – Stephen Town – who was subsequently appointed.

The advisory group she was involved in wasn’t part of the final decision on who got the job.

Simmonds said she was sure Town was shouldertapped given Jordan’s comment and the fact he was interviewed at a different time from other candidates.

She has a range of concerns about the recruitment process and has lodged an Official Information Act request in a bid to get answers to various questions including who shoulder-tapped Town.

‘‘Shoulder-tapping is not usually a very flash way to make appointments.’’

Town, a former Auckland Council chief executive, had also previously been CEO at Wanganui Regional Community Polytechnic.

Asked whether she had been ok about Town’s appointment given his skill set, Simmonds said she felt he would be ‘‘slow and considered’’.

She thought he was perhaps being made a ‘‘scapegoat’’ for Te Pū kenga’s problems given the board had primary responsibility for setting the organisation’s direction.

Simmonds’ comments bear out concerns from former top Te Pū kenga executive Merran Davis, who resigned from the organisation last year and recently described the atmosphere resembling ‘‘Disneyland’’ at times.

Davis was interviewed for the CEO’s role at Te Pū kenga along with others in late 2019 but was told no one from that round had got the job.

‘‘The next thing the sector was told, some months later, was that Stephen Town had been appointed.’’

Davis said she wasn’t just raising issues about the process out of ‘‘sour grapes’’, noting she subsequently took up a deputy chief executive role at Te Pū kenga.

Instead, she was airing concerns because ‘‘of the issues that are there now’’ for Te Pū kenga, given Town’s departure and the organisation’s significant operational problems.

She wants a formal investigation into the whole recruitment process.

In response to queries under the Official Information Act from Stuff, Te Pū kenga’s acting CEO Peter Winder said Town was ‘‘co-appointed’’ by Te Pū kenga’s establishment board and its council.

Te Pū kenga intially failed to answer a question about whether Town was formally interviewed for the position and by whom.

Asked about this, a senior ministerial adviser for the organisation confirmed that Town was interviewed by a panel outlined in the OIA response.

Four candidates were interviewed in November 2019 – no appointment was made as a result, the adviser said.

Subsequently, two further applications were made – one was withdrawn. A second round of interviews took place in January 2020, which resulted in Town’s appointment.

Meanwhile, queried on whether a competitive tender process was used to select a recruitment agency for the CEO’s job, Winder’s response confirmed it was not because the ‘‘engagement value’’ was under $100,000, meaning no formal open market process was required. Executive search firm Sheffield was used.

Simmonds said her OIA request is also asking about this as she had many concerns.

However, Winder said: ‘‘I can confirm Te Pū kenga has received no complaints on the matter.’’

Stuff also asked whether any conflicts of interest were declared by council members or staff during the recruitment process due to prior relationships with the CEO and deputy CEO candidates. Also, whether any council members or staff had previous working relationships with the appointed CEO and successful deputy CEO candidates.

‘‘Many members of the interview panel have an extensive working history in the education sector, some members would have had previous working relationships with candidates,’’ Winder said.

‘‘Interview panel members identified any knowledge of candidates prior to the interviews. This process was done verbally and no written notifications were made.’’