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15 May 2006

MAYOR'S E-COLUMN

CUTTING COUNCIL COSTS

At a time when most city/district/regional councils are hiking their rates at exponential speed, Wanganui stands alone. Why? Because we are not.

Indeed Wanganui’s rates rise – over the years 2005-2007 – will be the lowest in the country, and by some distance. A nil rate rise in 2005/6, followed by a proposed 3% rate rise (less than the rate of inflation) in 2006/7.

There is a simple reason for that: council is determined that our own performance measures up before we start imposing new costs upon Wanganui citizens. Wanganui’s rates remain, per median house price, amongst the highest in the country and that is a trend that this council has been determined to reverse.

Readers will know that I have always regarded local government bureaucracy as the last bastion of the ‘Gliding On’ mentality. This malaise infected New Zealand’s public sector in the 1970s and 1980s. There was a view that a job in the public sector was a job for life, and that the private sector principle of ‘doing it once and doing it right’ simply did not apply.

I encountered some of those same attitudes and practices at Guyton Street, when I was first elected mayor. And it did not take long for some of them to be independently exposed. The Audit Office and the Mitchell Report uncovered an unacceptable quality of financial reporting, and the Office of the Auditor-General was extremely critical of policy and practices surrounding the harbour and IT issues.

Over the past 18 months, the elected representatives of council have demanded better and more transparent management of council resources. A number of initiatives have been launched to assure us that ratepayers’ money is being properly spent, and that it is appropriately accounted. I won’t say that we’re there yet – but we’re getting close.

A new chief executive

Part of council’s internal reform was to select a chief executive with private sector experience. That Dr David Warburton applied for the position, with his outstanding commercial background, was a rare piece of good fortune. In partnership with new deputy chief executive Kevin Ross, they have set about establishing new structures and policies with just the one end.

To create a council that provides real value for the ratepayers’ dollar. That includes improving the delivery of council services.
Unsurprisingly, Dr Warburton is restructuring the current council to make it more efficient and effective. He has shared his restructuring plan with the full council, and those plans have been formally approved.

As regards which staff go where, and who might be surplus to requirements … those have never been issues for the decision of elected representatives. Thank God. The Local Government Act makes it explicit that while we may employ the CEO and hold him accountable, it is the CEO himself who employs and is responsible for all other staff. Council has neither input nor interest in which staff get appointed where, nor whom is made redundant.

That said, we wholeheartedly agree with Dr Warburton’s general thrust that council was over-managed. The current proposed reforms deal with that issue. Wanganui’s Ten Year Plan

It is important to note that the current staff restructuring would have occurred even had Council not decided to cut $500,000 from the corporate budget in the 2006-16 draft LTCCP (long-term council community plan). I’m sure that the proposed plans will go a long way to meeting the requirements of elected representatives, but only time will tell.

This year’s LTCCP submissions closed on Friday. From a preliminary assessment by council officers, a good proportion of the submissions centre around the divestment of rural/community halls, and dog registration of all things!

Obviously the vast majority of Wanganui residents are happy with council’s LTCCP proposals. It looks like there will be a little over 200 submissions and a good percentage are duplicate ones related to the above issues. Out of budget of $60 million for the 2006/7 year, it seems most submissions centre on items costing $600,000 – 1% of the total budget.

One thing I’d like to get rid of is the acronym ‘LTCCP’. I understand that we legally can – so let’s do it. ‘Wanganui’s Ten Year Plan’ would both be a simpler title and more descriptive.

Rural & Community Halls

This is an issue that has elicited some heat from certain quarters, but very little light.

Ironically, the whole issue arose from a submission to the council’s community development committee last year by the Savage Club. They were in financial difficulty and seeking especial favour – namely, relief from council’s rates.

The advice of council management was that no such relief should be provided. That to grant dispensation to one voluntary group would be to create a precedent for all. And they were probably right. But council decided instead to review all community halls in the district – an apparent urgency after the Gonville Hall was declared unsafe.

The resultant research has proven illuminating. A good number of the halls are earthquake risks – even under the reduced standards for heritage buildings (and most community halls have no heritage status whatsoever).

A Byroft Petherick seismic assessment found that the Gonville Town Hall, the Upokongaro hall, the Kokuhuia hall, the Savage Club hall, the Womens Resource Centre, the Kaitoke hall, the Repertory Theatre and the Castlecliff hall, all have seismic ratings of less than 30%, and would require structural upgrade under the earthquake provisions of the new Building Act.

Although the private sector might get away with the risk and the cost, the public sector will not.

Then there is the cross-subsidisation issue. Why should those sectors and suburbs without a community hall, subsidise those with one? And why should the council subsidise the Savage and Repertory Theatre clubs when other voluntary clubs (and Amdram) stand on their own?

But council is not without a heart. The most efficient and economic answer would be to sell the halls and accompanying land to private bidders, pocket the estimated $2 million from the sales, and move on. Instead, what council is proposing is to vest the property in the hands of those who use the halls. Despite the hyperbole, it still seems the sanest option. Youth Council leads the way

One of the many innovations of this new council is the Youth Council. We set up the Maori committee/council at the same time and they could learn a thing or two from the young people. They are resolutely positive, put forward fresh and good ideas, and are always looking for the next challenge.

Eventually we expect the youth committee to have its own chairperson, having recently elected Kirsti Parkes and Christopher Ross as its co-deputies. They also have their own budget in 06/07 – around $60,000. And more power than any other youth council or committee in the country.

New Press Secretary

Welcome to Kate Gilpin – the council’s new press secretary. She will join communications co-ordinator Sue Dudman in the media/communications team.

It is a very demanding workload – not just in terms of communicating council policy and decisions, but producing rates newsletter, information pamphlets, the quarterly Council Report, background material for the referenda process, ghost-writing the weekly councilor comments and the like.

Helen Lawrence did an outstanding job creating the systems and profiles that council now uses. Sue Dudman has proven that she’s a true professional and Kate will add an energy and enthusiasm that should rub off on all.

Not long now … countdown to Zoe

I must admit Council always takes a backseat to my family responsibilities. And that’s the way it should be – elected representatives are not employees and the balance between service and family is important.

Leo and I are busily preparing for Zoe’s arrival – three months away and every day gets more exciting. Lucy is, without question, the best thing to have ever happened to me and has now made a full recovery from the convulsion of a month ago.

Thank you to all those who sent e-mails, cards and ‘phone messages. It was very much appreciated.

A lot of prospective parents put off finding out the gender of their children until birth. Leo and I have taken the opposite tack – naming Zoe is a great way of preparing the children for her arrival. We can’t wait until she arrives. It will be fun. Hard work … but the best fun possible.

Until next week … best wishes,

Michael Laws
Mayor