Now even the WCC CEO is bailing

Stuff reports:

Said to be frustrated with Wellington’s lack of progress, city council chief executive Kevin Lavery dropped a bombshell on Thursday by not seeking re-appointment.

That’s a huge blow. I had huge respect for Lavery. He was an excellent CEO.

Signs of Lavery’s resignation have been building for months, and increased significantly after his chief of staff, Kaine Thompson, quit.

Kaine is also a very good operator.

Informed sources point to a very strained relationship between Lavery and Wellington mayor Justin Lester and some elected councillors as a major factor for the decision.

Lavery managed to work well with Celia Wade-Brown so I’m pretty sure the problem isn’t on his side.

The chief executive is believed to be highly frustrated with the pace of progress on several city projects, including Let’s Get Wellington Moving.

He’s not the only one.

Lavery proved willing to take controversial stands, urging caution among councillors on the move to rebuild the Town Hall when the bill was $45m,

They should have listened to him. It is likely to now cost $150 million.

It is understood Lavery spoke to others of his frustrations with the lack of progress in the past triennium on those original eight objectives and especially around the eventual outcome of Let’s Get Wellington Moving. 

Calling the transport programme Let’s Get Wellington Moving is like calling North Korea the “Democratic People’s Republic of Korea”. It is technically correct but the substance is the opposite of the name. LGWM is a plan to do basically nothing for ten years.