Edward Mills (Weekend Sun May 13) that is a fairly accurate and good summary on how things used to be. Twenty years ago when most Council meetings were often at night with the occasional day or half day meeting each month, Councils had loyal, competent staff and a Town Clerk or City Manager who inspired confidence with trust, competency, reliability and a prudent approach to spending ratepayers' money. Most Councillors then were business people, qualified professionals and public spirited people prepared to put something back into the local community, i.e. service before self.
Today we seem to have mainly seat warmers, those that cannot gain useful employment/run a business or retirees. Councillors are bombarded by the TCC bureaucrats with booklets the size of the Doomsday Book when actually what is required are briefing papers with bullet points, signed by the originator and peer-reviewed by the TCC section manager. These briefing notes plus the booklet need to be presented to Councillors seven clear days before the relevant Council meeting. The general public should also get a look unless some very valid grounds for secrecy or confidentiality arise.
TCC needs competency, conciseness, honesty and openness. With 550 Council staff costing ratepayers $35 million p.a. we must be able to achieve this surely. TCC should not need to go outside consultants employed for millions of dollars, most of whom previously worked for Council. Make it a Council policy that TCC will not employ any consultant for a period of five years from the termination of his/her Council employment. That will sort it out real quick and stop what's currently happening.
MS Senior, Mt Maunganui.