KEY POINTS:
If John Banks, or anyone else for that matter, is to become Mayor of a Greater Auckland Council one of the key issues he or she will need to address is the culture of the new super city.
The summary of 3537 submissions to the Royal Commission of Inquiry on Auckland Governance has confirmed significant antagonism towards council staff, particularly those at Auckland City Council.
Waiheke Island resident Susan Pockett best summed up people's frustrations: "We are effectively ruled not by our democratically elected representatives, but by a bloated bureaucracy of unelected and unaccountable functionaries, with a culture of arrogant disregard for the will of the people."
The region's eight chief executives, who earn salary packages worth up to $470,000, came in for special attention for having too much power, being the unelected de facto leader of their fiefdoms, acting in an arrogant way, wasting money, paying ex-staff exorbitant fees as consultants and ignoring the wishes of people. By inference and name much of this criticism was aimed at Auckland City chief executive David Rankin, who oversees the region's largest
council. His decision to introduce a new council logo behind the backs of elected councillors was raised several times.
A former associate of Rankin at the old East Coast Bays City Council, Graham Parfitt, said he showed "total disdain for the democratic process" back then and this had characterised his term as chief executive at Auckland City.
If Aucklanders needed any reminding about the culture at Auckland City, it came this week when a member of Rankin's executive team, Dr Jill McPherson, ducked for cover about her role in a report riddled with errors and missing figures on footpath repair costs that have shot up 135 per cent in three years.
If, as expected, Auckland becomes a super city of 1.4 million people, the success of the new body is going to depend heavily on a culture of public service, transparency and democracy. Strong political leadership will not be enough.
The royal commission may allow the super mayor to appoint public officials. That would pave the way for a new culture and level of officer accountability now missing.
One of the terms of reference for the royal commission is to come up with a transition process from the old to the new.
Having listened to people's gripes about council officers being a law unto themselves, the commission needs to devise a process that is far enough removed from bureaucratic control, robust and critically, enjoys the confidence of ordinary Aucklanders. Otherwise, the city could be in for the same old, same old and the mayor will inherit a
poisoned chalice.
