Mayor Elect and CEO Talk Committees

Imagine: The election is over and we know who the mayor of Auckland Council is, and who the Councillors and Board Members are. But this Mayor has different powers from previous mayors we have seen. Among other things the Mayor of Auckland Council has the power:

to establish the committees of the governing body;
to appoint the chairperson of each committee of the governing body and, for that purpose, the mayor—
(i) may make the appointment before the other members of the committee are determined; and
(ii) may appoint himself or herself (Local Government (Auckland Council) Bill 36-2 (2009))

So let's listen in on the conversation between Doug McKay (Auckland Council's Interim CEO), and the Mayor Elect..... This is an imaginery conversation....

CEO: Congratulations on your result. Welcome to Auckland Council.

Mayor: Thanks Doug. Yep, the people have spoken. Time to get down to business.

CEO: Agreed. My people have prepared substantial briefing materials. Briefing to incoming Council. She's a bit of a beast to get on top of.

Mayor: Tell me about it. But before we do that I want to talk Committees.

CEO: Yep. Thought you would. We've looked at a few options and can go through that analysis with you. We know it's your call. How do you want to play this?

Mayor: I've got a few ideas and had a few conversations but I'm keen to hear what you recommend. How you see it.

CEO: Well we're all set up in here, and up and running as you know. I've got three very good people running Council's Operations, Planning and Finance divisions. They're outside ready to meet you by the way....

Mayor: Saw them on my way in actually. Place has a good feel. You're doing a good job. So give me a flavour. What's your recommendation?

CEO: Well as I say we've had a long hard look at this and I've got a power point I'd like to go through with you, but in summary we think less is more. Three Committees of the whole, Council, and independent commissioners for hearings. That's it in a nutshell. Of course there's always room for a few sub-committees if you saw the need...

Mayor: Less is more. Hmmm. Sub committees. Hmmm. The Council I used to be Mayor of had a hell of a lot more committees than three, and we were responsible for a quarter of what we're doing in here. What makes you think three Committees will cut it?

CEO: Well it's not three Committees when you think about it. There's 21 Boards as well. They'll decide the local stuff. Make the grass-roots decisions. Community Development decisions. And the big decisions around the Waterfront, the Port, Water, Wastewater, Transport, Public Transport - they'll all be well handled by Council's very capable CCO's. As you know.

Mayor: I thought you might say that. But I'll tell you this. I haven't bust a gut getting in here, along with a whole bunch of capable councillors, just to leave decisions to someone else. To a bunch of CCO Boards. And even if I did have some sympathy with your three Committee idea, you can bet your bottom dollar my Councillors won't tolerate being side-lined over major decisions. They won't want to delegate everything to your officers and CCO's - no matter how good they are.

CEO: But you won't be delegating everything. That's the point. Council will decide strategy. Transport strategy, Water strategy, Long Term Council Plan, Spatial Plan, Waterfront Development Strategy, Finance Strategy. Statements of Intent. The lot. That won't be delegated. The CCO's and the Council will then implement those strategies. Your strategies. You will control Council and its CCO's through strategy. And you will monitor our delivery, and CCO deliveries, through reporting that's as detailed as you want it to be.

Mayor: Well I'm not so sure about that. This is a whole different ball game and the public and councillors want to understand better what's going on so they can influence it. I think we need to be looking at some options.

CEO: We can do that. But give me a flavour of what you want. Have you got an example?

Mayor: Well I've taken an interest in Watercare and that's all well and good for trunk sewers and the like, but I can't see how that model - that hands off model - is going to work for transport projects. There's too much public interest and too many different interests when it comes to transport.

CEO: But isn't that the point? Councils haven't done anything because they've been too busy worrying about local concerns. This model reduces that impact on getting things done. I'm not saying Council can hide behind the Transport CCO, while it steamrolls through, but it will have a focus on getting things done. We can open up meetings and be transparent about decisions so people know what's going on. This will free up Councillors so they can concentrate on the Spatial Plan. That really needs political attention, and once it's done then Auckland Transport will be required to implement it. I think it would be a waste of councillor's time if they got into the detail of every roading project and road asset management plans and all that.

Mayor: It sounds great the way you put it. But it ignores the fact that people own land and run businesses and live and go to school and shop by these roads. Roading projects affect them and their assets like nothing else Councils do. It's the whole land use and transport integration thing. You can't fix one without affecting the other. I buy into keeping councillors away from little projects. But they will want to have a say on the big ones. Like Dominion Road, like AMETI, like the Britomart Rail Loop and those new stations. The list is a big one. I'm thinking of something like a delegation. Something like if the value of a transport project is more than $10 million - to pluck a figure out of the air - then Council must be consulted.

CEO: Hmmm. I'll have to get advice on what the law says about this. My understanding is that parliament intended for there to be a strong separation between Council and Auckland Transport juridictions. I think before we go any further with this we need to have a chat with Mark Ford. You OK with that?

Mayor: Absolutely. We need to get this right. No point in rushing now we've got this far.

CEO: OK. I take it you're happy with Watercare then?

Mayor: I'm no expert on it. We have had the odd report back at Council. Once over lightly. But word is everything that's been going on there has been under the public radar for years. No-one really knows what's what. On the face of it looks like a tight ship. The Watercare Shareholder Representative Group has been controlled for years so that Watercare get's what it wants, but who knows if it's the best option. I mean take that water tariff announcement a few weeks ago. $1.30/cubic metre across the region. Everybody pays the same. Has a ring of confidence about it. Everybody likes a cut in rates. I don't know the basis for it. Watercare has a revenue requirement that must be met. I suspect tariffs are just the sort of thing that Council will want to understand and decide. How does that fit with your committee plan?

CEO: These are highly complex technical matters, but I'm sure we can pick them up in the Statement of Intent. Or maybe a Sub Committee when needed.

Mayor: I had a flick through Watercare's SOI before coming in today. Someone gave it to me. Here's what it says about tariffs. Objective 18 is "To ensure that the regime for the pricing of water and wastewater services is enduring, transparent and reliable.".... Fantastic, what does that mean?.... And its performance target - I don't know who writes these things - is: "The pricing methodology enables the revenue to be set to recover all costs and provide for an adequate level of debt servicing."

CEO: What's wrong with that? Sounds sensible to me.

Mayor: It may be sensible, but where in there is the need for a conservation pricing message, where in there is any need to consider developer levies so infrastructure costs get allocated where they are incurred. I suspect the whole thing needs a rethink. Sure business must continue. But you can't expect us all to troop in here and accept everything as a done deal. There is a need in my opinion for us to set up committees which allow the Council to take control of what is happening. Councillors may be happy to accept the status quo - once they understand the options and alternatives. But you can't assume that.

CEO: So where from here?

Mayor: Well I'd like to to see your power point presentation, and I'd like another meeting maybe tomorrow, where I'd like to bring in a few more councillors, and I want to see Committee options which at the very least include a Transport Committee, a Watercare Committee, and a Waterfront Committee. There must also be a Local Board Committee. Councillors need to engage politically with Auckland Council Boards. These are the meaty issues, and I want Committee options that will enable us to get to grips with Auckland local government.

CEO: Hmmm. How about a cuppa tea?

End of imaginery conversation. More later. In another Blog. Maybe.