The holdings company manages various businesses on behalf of the council - Wanganui Gas Ltd/GasNet, Whanganui Port, the Commercial Pilot Academy, with property endowments, quarry and forestry interests currently up for sale.
Transparency concerns were raised about the holdings company at a recent council meeting, when one councillor wanted to receive minutes of the company's meetings, which does not happen at present.
This concern was raised because elected members of council are perceived to be responsible for council investments and problems with the holdings company could reflect badly on them.
Councillor Vinsen, a holdings director, supported meeting minutes being made available as he did not want aspersions cast against his trustworthiness or that of other directors.
The Auditor General's Office recommends that holding companies be held at arm's length from councils. Auckland City Council, for example, has no council representatives on Auckland Council Investments Ltd, its investment arm.
However, it is not unusual for councillors to be on a holding company, though some councils prefer to simply have an observer at holding company meetings.
Under our holdings company's constitution there is no requirement for any member of Whanganui District Council or its staff to be a director. One could ask, therefore, if council members on the holdings company need to be there in the first place - and, even if they do, have they got the necessary qualifications to perform this important role?
What process to selection did they go through? Were they judged against other applicants as would be good practice when employing someone to manage $50 million of investments? Perhaps there may have been more qualified people in the community to perform this task?
As the holdings company was incorporated prior to mayor Main being elected, she continued with the existing format of having the mayor or deputy mayor and one councillor, with other independent directors.
From all accounts, mayor Michael Laws, who established the holdings company, chose this format, and the present council has chosen to continue with it.
So, how are these businesses performing? It is hard to know, to be honest.
Although the holdings company produces an annual report, it is a consolidated report so we have no idea how each individual business is performing. Neither is there an executive commentary of any great depth about each business and certainly no mention of performance metrics like "return on equity", "return on investment" or "net debt to equity ratios" - all important criteria for assessing business performance.
Chairman Matt Doyle cites confidentiality from business competitors regarding Wanganui Gas Ltd, the main investment, yet disclosure requirements for gas pipeline companies under part 4 of the Commerce Act 1986 allows any competitor to see most of what they would want to know about the competition.
While our holding company may not be in the same league value wise, Auckland City Investments, for example, publishes all meeting minutes online for the public to see. It also shows a breakdown of the performance of all investments.
Confidentiality is important at times - such as when considering a new purchase - but, once the decision has been made, it does not seem unreasonable for the public to be able to scrutinise these decisions.
Sadly, this information is simply not available. I am certainly not casting aspersions about any investment decisions, or the ability and performance of the directors of our holding company, but transparency - so the public can see what is being achieved with their money - is highly desirable.
-Steve Baron is a Wanganui-based political commentator, author and founder of Better Democracy NZ, and holds degrees in economics and political science. He is standing for Whanganui District Council in October.
