I was somewhat disappointed in Councillor Matt Cowley's column ‘ Are council's staff numbers out of control' in The Weekend Sun on May 29. He should named the former councillors he was referring to and calling cowardly as they make, according to him, public requests for council to cut council staff numbers in order for ratepayers to save money.

By not naming them, Councillor Cowley accuses all former councillors and surely that wasn't his intention?

From experience it's not always necessary for service levels to reduce as staff numbers either stabilise or for that matter reduce as it is the way that things are carried out that makes the difference and this is where I feel TCC currently fails.

It almost seems he has basically given up or is this just the view of a former bureaucrat, who is more concerned with protecting his role rather than the interests of ratepayers as a whole?

The forced merger of the Auckland councils was in part driven by predicted significant staffing cost savings, as were several reviews of staffing numbers by the current and last CEO of TCC - all of which seem to have failed miserably.

It's also very well, Cr Cowley, to say the council of 2013 has been brave enough to engage the community on which services could be decreased, should staff numbers actually be reduced, but engagement and achieving meaningful outcomes are two entirely different matters. I wonder how many people think the overall level of service has improved, as opposed to decline, as currently council staff numbers are still escalating and maybe the real problem seems to be the number and the cost of too many middle and upper management positions within the council staff.

M Baker, Bethlehem.

Cr Matt Cowley's response:

Anyone, including former councillor Baker, can view the public submissions by visiting council's website.

Talk is cheap – Mr Baker's term on council did not result in reduced staff numbers or levels of service.

I hope readers also read my entire column on Sunlive's website, which shows my keenness to invest in the right tools to make staff more productive.

Fish rot from the head – I believe the negative culture created by successive elected members resulted in an unhealthy organisation.

Ratepayers are now playing catch up from the lack of maintenance on mouldy council buildings and dangerously vulnerable Information Technology assets.

The popular position is to grandstand on staff numbers. But the reality is we inherited an organisation with vulnerable assets and a turbulent (e.g. unproductive) environment for staff, which hindered Council's ability to serve our community.

Perhaps this was why seven of the 11 previous elected members were not re-elected.