CEO's pay rise goes against reviews

Christchurch City Council awarded its chief executive a $68,000 pay rise despite reviews finding his performance steadily declining.

Following public outcry Tony Marryatt on Friday turned down last month's 14.4 per cent pay rise, which would have taken his salary to $538,529.

Councillors approved the pay rise, but documents released under the Official Information Act show Mr Marryatt's performance reviews, as assessed by the same councillors and senior managers, slipped since 2009, The Press reports.

Excluding self-assessment, his overall performance decreased from 4.3 out of 5 in 2009 to 3.9 in 2011. His ratings declined in six out of seven categories.

Pay rise critic Peter Lynch says the reviews show Mr Marryatt's performance does not warrant a massive pay rise.

He planned to ask Internal Affairs and the auditor-general to look into the "significant discrepancies" between the pay increase and performance.

But Mayor Bob Parker says Mr Marryatt received "a very strong rating".

Staff who had worked closely with him during the earthquake response rated him highly, while some councillors gave him lower, in a "natural spread" of ratings, Mr Parker said.

Meanwhile, Kapiti Coast District Council chief executive Pat Dougherty is also facing pressure to turn down a $44,000, or 18 per cent, pay rise, which took his pay from to $285,000.

Mr Dougherty declined to comment to The Dominion Post but but councillor Mike Cardiff told the paper the community mood over the pay rise was one of amazement.

Councillor Guru Gurunathan said the council had been "dumb" not to have considered how an 18 per cent pay rise would be perceived by ratepayers.

However, he believed it was obliged to pay the going rate for the job.

Businessman Jeff Adlam said his business associates could not believe the process the council went through and that it made the decision public five months after the vote was taken behind closed doors.