Kaipara District Council has appointed Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown’s former chief of staff as its new chief executive.
By Susan Botting for Local Democracy Reporting
Jazz Singh will take up Kaipara District Council (KDC)’s leadership role on June 8 - making him the fifth person to lead the council in 10 years.
Singh has spent about 14 years at Auckland Council, working in leadership roles across both the mayoral and chief executive offices.
The KDC appointment will be Singh’s first in a chief executive role, following these senior governance and executive positions.
He previously also worked as Whangārei District Council's democracy and legal services manager from 2010 to 2011.
Kaipara Mayor Jonathan Larsen said Singh’s experience and commitment to the district made him the right choice.
“Jazz Singh comes with significant experience across many facets of local government, having worked across policy, procurement, fiscal management and organisational strategy,” Larsen said.
“He knows his way around complex reform. I think together we will achieve great things for our district and I am excited to begin working with Mr Singh.
“We have a busy road ahead of us, with multiple local government reforms happening at pace. Mr Singh will bring a fresh perspective and is the right person to lead our organisation.”
Singh brings extensive local government experience in senior roles spanning policy, finance and strategy.
As Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown’s chief of staff, he led policy development, central government engagement, and the delivery of strategic planning processes, and played a major role in organisational reform.
He was also involved in establishing the council’s Auckland Future Fund — a council owned investment fund designed to generate long term returns for future infrastructure.
The fund was set up using about $1.3 billion raised from Auckland Council’s December 2024 sale of its Auckland Airport shares, and is managed commercially under council oversight to help reduce pressure on rates and borrowing.
As Auckland Council’s head of finance and budget, Singh oversaw the development of mayoral budget proposals and worked on major initiatives including water services reform, storm recovery and waterfront planning.
Singh is a lawyer by training and his career included roles as acting general legal counsel at Auckland Council.
He will be Northland’s 14th council chief executive in the past decade, in a region that has among the highest levels of chief executive turnover in New Zealand.
Kaipara District Council has an average chief executive tenure of roughly two to three years. The council's five chief executives over the past decade include permanent, interim and acting positions.
Singh follows interim chief executive Michael Day, and former chief executives Jason Marris (interim then permanent), Louise Miller and James Lindsay. Commissioner appointed acting staff carried out the chief executive role between Lindsay and Miller.
Day has been leading the council for three months since Jason Marris’ departure.
There has been repeated leadership change at Kaipara District Council and Far North District Council (FNDC).
FNDC has also had five chief executives over the past decade, including acting and interim appointments, with an average tenure of three to four years since 2022.
The only woman besides Kaipara District Council's Miller to be at the helm of a Northland council in the last decade was Far North District Council's Jill Coyle, who was acting chief executive for several months in Autumn 2023.
In comparison with KDC and FNDC, Whangārei District Council has had two chief executives, with an average tenure of around eight to nine years.
Northland Regional Council has also had two chief executives over the past decade, with average tenures of about five years.
Local Democracy Reporting is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air
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