Two Whakatāne district councillors heaped praise on departing chief executive Steph O’Sullivan at her final public council meeting.

O’Sullivan’s departure from the council after five-and-a-half years’ service was announced in early May. She leaves this month to take up the chief executive role at Waipa District Council.

Councillor Nándor Tànczos thanked her for her service and for “the strategic focus she’s brought to the council ... the very important rewiring she has done of this organisation, which was so needed and well implemented”.

He moved a motion for the council to officially thank her and wish her well in her new position, which was carried unanimously by the council.

“I’m just mindful of how far we’ve come as an organisation in the time you’ve been here,” Mr Tànczos continued.

“I remember when I first came on to this council, our reports were really tied up in a lot of minor operational matters. Our financial reporting was pages and pages of spreadsheets that were impossible to make strategic sense of.

“In your time here, that’s changed. The level of conversation we have around our council table is much higher.”

He said he felt the recent long-term planning process had had “more control, more understanding and more knowledge.

He also mentioned the focus she had brought in terms of relationship building.

“The relationships we now have with tangata whenua in our district are at an entirely different level from where they were when I first came into this council, and that’s a huge credit to you.”

Councillor Toni Boynton also acknowledged Ms O’Sullivan for her work and leadership.

“I do remember the day you were welcomed here back in 2019. It was good and fresh to see somebody who had the ability to bring two worlds together."

In her final chief executive’s report to the council, Ms O’Sullivan said it had been a privilege to have worked with mayors Tony Bonne, Judy Turner and Victor Luca, and the councillors.

Highlights included developing a “high-performing executive team” and watching staff deliver through myriad challenges during an “unprecedented time in local government”.

She mentioned the Awatarariki managed retreat process, carried out in conjunction with central and regional government as among the “nation-leading” processes the council had achieved.

“We were also among the few councils in Aotearoa that delivered its full Better-Off-Funding work programme.

Better-Off Funding was central government’s investment in councils through the former Three Waters reform programme.

The council used it to progress the new Braemar water treatment plant and the Hono Hapori mobile council units, expected to be on the road later this year, providing greater access to council services in remote communities.

“I know staff have been advocating for both these projects for nigh on 20 years, so it was fantastic to be able to bring them to life with external funding.”

She looked forward to watching the council’s continued commitment to working “in friendship and collaboration with iwi, hapū and whānau” through its Māori Relationship Strategy, Te Toi Waka Whakarei, citing the co-design approach to Matata wastewater with iwi groups as a leading example of this.

“I’m going to miss Whakatāne District Council,” she said. “But local government’s one big whānau and I will look forward to continuing to be part of the journey.”

The council is currently undergoing a recruitment process to employ a new chief executive.

LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.