Editorial: Our city deserves better than this

The council is split - one group aligned with mayor Sheryl Mai and another with former deputy mayor Phil Halse. Photo / Michael Cunningham

Whangarei's elected council is threatening to implode.

Councillors have lost respect for each other and mislaid sight of the council's collective reason for being.

Having watched hours of Channel North footage of a recent council meeting, it is clear they have lost sight of their collective unity to serve.

And so they are unable to debate contentious issues with professional respect.

The council is split - one group aligned with mayor Sheryl Mai and another with former deputy mayor Phil Halse.

Around the table, a snide, point scoring element has crept in and done nothing to advance the district, or the reputation of individual councillors.

One or two independent councillors seem to dance to the beat of their own drum, away from the factions. But overall, the council is a long way from moving in sync together.

The Channel North footage reveals councillors who shout at each other, insult each other, and talk over the top of each other. There were confused arguments put forward and dramatic accusations that came to nothing.

There were childish digs, smarmy remarks and time-wasting, grandstanding political rhetoric.

And when all of the above stops, the same tired old ground is dug over and over again.

In short, this council has dug itself into a large hole.

Whangarei is in trouble if this is the type of rationale, debate and argument that precedes important decisions.

Because this current council on present form will struggle to make any decision.

Channel North filmed the meeting. It's on YouTube, if you want to watch it.

The only positive I can see is that there is still time for the elected councillors to get their act together before the next election. However, I think they need external advice. If they were a school board, the Ministry of Education would be stepping in. Sadly, the Local Government Minister has little interest in what is going on in Whangarei, despite concerns being raised by ratepayers.

This past week, I spoke with a Whangarei resident about her memories of a 1965 photo we published in the Northern Advocate.

She is now about 60.

Out of the blue, she said: "While I've got you on the phone, what the f*** is our council doing?"

I have no idea. And I'm not sure our council currently does either.