‘Draconian’: Leave council alone says MP
Bridges writes tominister asking her not to intervene
Tauranga MP Simon Bridges has urged Local Government Minister Nanaia Mahuta not to take the “dramatic and draconian” step of intervening in the Tauranga City Council.
Following the shock resignation of Tauranga mayor Tenby Powell on Friday and a damning independent review and observation team report into dysfunction in the council’s governance, Mahuta said she would consider intervention options including potentially replacing elected members with commissioners.
Long-time Tauranga MP and former National Party leader Bridges wrote to Mahuta yesterday asking her not to intervene and calling for caution.
“Despite the dysfunction the report identifies, intervention is a dramatic and draconian step not to be undertaken lightly and things are likely to become more functional from here on in,” he wrote.
Bridges said that, in his view, Powell quitting removed a “significant source of friction”.
He said it was reasonable to assume the council would become more functional with the upcoming elections of a new mayor and councillor replacing Powell and Jako Abrie, who quit in October.
“While no one can be certain of this, I say this is more likely than not because last term the council was more functional than it has been so far this term and the majority of councillors left on the council were councillors before this term and the mayor’s tenure.
“Previous mayors such as mayor [Stuart] Crosby and [Greg] Brownless have more or less successfully managed councillor conflict in the past,” he said.
Bridges’ letter said he apportioned “no blame on the mayor or any current councillor” and community views would vary.
While the report highlighted issues beyond dysfunction between elected members, in his view, those issues