KEY POINTS:
A sporting or television personality will end up leading 1.3 million Aucklanders if the mayor of a new super city is elected at large, says Auckland City councillor Glenda Fryer.
The City Vision councillor said it would be almost impossible for an ordinary person with good skills to compete against the likes of sporting and television personalities or former national politicians in what would be a costly and elitist battle.
She was speaking at a meeting of the council's a regional governance committee
High profile personalities elected to Auckland local bodies include sporting legends John Walker, Dick Quax and Susan Devoy and television personalities Phillip Sherry and Craig Little.
Former National MPs Christine Fletcher and John Banks have been elected Mayor of Auckland City, former Act MP Penny Webster is Mayor of Rodney and former Labour MP Richard Northey is an Auckland City councillor.
Mr Banks, who is being coy about his political ambitions under a new set-up for Auckland, is a strong supporter for a greater Auckland mayor elected at large.
He was absent from yesterday's meeting yesterday for health reasons, but told the Herald that electing a leader from among councillors lent itself to backroom deals and cronyism.
He liked the tradition in Auckland City of "independent" mayors elected at large, even if they were closely aligned to a political ticket.
An officer's recommendation for the mayor of a single Greater Auckland Authority to be elected at large has divided the council on political lines with support from the ruling Citizens & Ratepayers bloc and opposition from City Vision.
City Vision councillor Graeme Easte said when it came to decision-making a leader chosen among their peers would act as chairman of the board, as opposed to the "el presidento" focus on one individual.
C&R councillor Aaron Bhatnagar said it was undemocratic to have a mayor appointed in a backroom deal. The public would want to know at election time who would be the leader.
One thing councillors did agree on was dropping the Lord Mayor title for the title Greater Auckland Mayor.
Other councils are divided on whether the region's leader should be elected at large or by their peers. Manukau and Franklin councils support a mayor elected at large, but Waitakere City Council and the Auckland Regional Council support electing the mayor from elected representatives.
Meanwhile, Franklin District Council wants to leave the clutches of Auckland and become a separate council within the Waikato region.
In a submission to the Royal Commission, the council said the community of 59,000 people saw itself as a rural district which would be better off as part of the rural-focused Environment Waikato regional council.
"Our community does not see itself as part of the city, or cities, that make up Auckland and feels disconnected from city issues.
"We worry about about rural and small town things - drought, fire, floods, the development of our small rural communities and sustainable land uses for agriculture, horticulture and farming," the submission said.
WHO CHOOSES THE MAYOR?
Favouring Greater Auckland Mayor being elected at large
* Auckland City Mayor John Banks
* Citizens & Ratepayers
* Manukau City Council
* Franklin District Council
Favouring Greater Auckland Mayor being elected by council
* City Vision councillors
* Auckland Regional Council
* Waitakere City Council
