Council Chairs call for Govt intervention with WCC

The Herald reports:

Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has been plagued with allegations of serial leaking and dysfunction so, does this mean the council needs a Crown observer? Some of the city’s neighbours think Local Government Minister Simeon Brown should consider it but a law expert says they need to chill out.

There is growing concern that infighting and sniping at Wellington City Council is reflecting poorly on the wider region and may warrant Government intervention.

Things have got so bad that Greater Wellington Regional Council chairman Daran Ponter said newly appointed Local Government Minister Simeon Brown should consider appointing a Crown observer.

Having the Regional Council Chair call for central Government intervention at WCC is significant, even more so as Daran Ponter is a Labour Councillor, so this can’t be seen as motivated by partisan politics.

Tensions in Wellington have escalated recently after Deputy Mayor Laurie Foon laid a code of conduct complaint against five councillors, accusing them of leaking commercially sensitive information about a deal to buy the land underneath the shut-up Reading Cinema complex on Courtenay Place.

A public spat played out in public after councillor Diane Calvert claimed the council was facing a financial crisis and it was being kept behind closed doors, which Whanau said was laughable.

Handing over $40 million to a US multinational as corporate welfare is not commercially sensitive. It should be known to the public. And the Council clearly has a financial crisis with rates looking to double over five years.

Ponter said the council could bring in an experienced mediator, it didn’t necessarily have to be a Crown observer, but he said Brown should consider it if the council was unwilling to get help itself.

Simeon should give them three months to get their act together, and then appoint an observer if needed.