In ‘Faulkners Corner' Friday 17 December, Bill again shifts the responsibility for a fiscally out of control council onto local government reforms of 1989 and 2002. Funny how other councils can operate fiscally within the reforms.
Bill is right when he claims 'elected members govern and monitor but don't implement”. These two tasks should be an imperative for all elected members. It is exactly what boards of directors/governors and successful private business do. The only difference is that pollies have to work within the framework of the LG Act.
Pollies know what tasks and projects have to be achieved annually and they have control over the budgets of each task and project through the Annual Plan and Budget process.
It is the elected member's responsibility to have implemented appropriate boundaries within the CEO's contract to hold him/her responsible for the prudent management of the City.
An ‘organisational chart' of employees might be a good start. If it's good enough for the new Auckland City to do it, maybe it is incumbent on Tauranga City councillors and CEO to do the same. It borders on abhorrent to read Bill's notation of staffing and salary levels.
Bill paints himself as the ‘ratepayer friend' elected to root out waste within the halls of power. Unreasonable rate increases over the past 10 years and going into the future would clearly indicate he has failed, along with all the councillors of Tauranga City over that time.
Nobody can stop the clock and progress must be made, but it must be done in a financially prudent manner. Councils exist because ratepayers ‘at law', have to pay their rates and charges.
Maureen J Anderson, Pyes Pa.