Council secrecy ‘perplexing’
Palmerston North mayor Grant Smith and council staff are continuing to delay explaining how they came to grant $391,000 to Toyota New Zealand and why they kept it secret.
Massey University senior lecturer in communication, journalism and marketing Catherine Strong says the secrecy about the grant associated with the giant motor company’s Roberts Line expansion is perplexing.
‘‘At a time when they should be proud of encouraging regional economic development, their attempts to keep it hush-hush are surprising.
‘‘There shouldn’t be any reason to keep mum on the process of granting this money to Toyota.’’
The existence of the grant became public knowledge on January 9, when the Taxpayers’ Union shared the council’s response to an official request for the information.
But a week later, councillors are still not talking about a decision made in a publicexcluded meeting, nor confirming what meeting that was or when it was held.
Smith had offered to talk to Stuff on Tuesday, but then delayed the interview until after he had returned to work yesterday and had a chance to talk to staff about media requests for information on the topic.
Strong said the ongoing reluctance to face up to questions was surprising, as the council had comparatively open communication policies.
Strong has carried out research in the past comparing councils’ codes of conduct and been critical of those that attempted to restrict councillors’ ability to speak out.
Her comment at the time was that once elected, councillors’ loyalty should be to their community, not as spin doctors for their councils
She was concerned councillors believed they had to remain silent, wondered who told them not to talk and questioned why they heeded that instruction.
‘‘Elected councillors are there to safeguard the spending of public money, and to let residents know what is going on.
‘‘Although there are requirements to keep private some information that would adversely affect a business’ competitive position, there is no reason to keep secret the councillors’ discussions, debates, and voting.’’ Only ‘‘truly sensitive’’ information should be restricted to meetings held with the public excluded.
Everything else should be publicly available, she said.
Strong said the lack of openness about the grant made her wonder if the council was having second thoughts about the decision.
‘‘There shouldn’t be any reason to keep mum on the process of granting this money to Toyota.’’
Dr Catherine Strong