The New Zealand Herald

5 things Goff needs to do

Simon Wilson tells Auckland Mayor Phil Goff how he can do things better to make his reign stand out from his rivals

-

Guess what, Phil Goff? When the once and would-be future mayor John Banks said if he was re-elected he would make himself chairman of Auckland Transport it was a Good Idea. A decisive move to fix something a lot of people believe is broken. And it’s not wacky, either: the transport authority in London is chaired by the mayor.

Did you spot that, Phil? While you’re busy promising fiscal prudence, meeting the challenges of today and tomorrow, yadda yadda, voters are asking for more. We want those things, but we also want a mayor who will do something more.

Like: inspire confidence. Demonstrat­e fresh thinking, introduce real changes we can understand to fix what’s broken. And in all that, you’ve got work to do.

You told your colleagues on council recently you were committed to pushing for more transport funding from the Government but, you said: “We will do it in a smart way not simply in a loud way.” That was a dig at your rival John Tamihere and it was a silly thing to say.

How have you spent a lifetime in politics without realising that if you’re quiet, no one thinks you’re doing anything?

You’ve said you’re not going to be populist because “I’m not going to start lying”. Okay, good, don’t lie. But that doesn’t mean you can’t be bold and inspiratio­nal. Maybe you think you’re not that guy.

But Phil, you’re running a city with a pretty good plan for progress but low confidence in the good that’s being achieved. You have to become that guy.

Here are five suggestion­s. An election to-do list.

Get out more

Everyone says you work extremely hard, but you’re doing the wrong work. Too much time locked in your office reading reports, not enough time out in the communitie­s of Auckland.

Your predecesso­r, Len Brown, used to have “The Mayor in the Chair”: a regular gig where he went to shopping centres and took people’s questions. Well advertised locally, it was a great way to meet ordinary people, remain visible, hear about real concerns and build confidence that council is serving citizens.

You probably don’t want to copy Brown.

So find your own way to do it.

Think bolder

Heard of the Bilbao Effect, Phil? In 1997, Bilbao was an industrial backwater on Spain’s north coast. Then it opened an outpost of the Guggenheim Museum: a magnificen­t building designed by Frank Gehry, shaped like a twisted ball of aluminium, complete with giant Jeff Koons dog covered in flowers out the front.

They had asked for their own Sydney Opera House and that’s what they got. More than 20 million visitors, who have generated so much wealth for the city, Bilbao built a new airport, a modern rapid transit system, urban renewal projects and a major culture and leisure centre.

The museum is great, and not just because it’s loved by the public, tourists and the critics. It’s great because it’s transforme­d the city.

Got something like that for us, Phil? Something transforma­tional? It will have to be really good, because cities are trying to copy the Bilbao Effect all over the world. It will have to be unique to us.

How about that museum of the sea I keep suggesting? Tangata Moana, a celebratio­n of the all cultures and technologi­es that got us here and make us special, from Kupe to foiling superyacht­s, and will see us into the future.

We could become the pre-eminent city of the south Pacific — you know the title is up for grabs. But we’re not even close to owning it yet.

Or, how about that sunken stadium? A multi-purpose public venue sitting on the seabed, designed and built with technology that resists the impact of climate change? Magnificen­t.

Make it part of a new downtown waterfront? A 30-year plan for a brilliant, beautiful mix of parks, beaches and cultural endeavour, paid for with commercial and residentia­l developmen­t. Even more magnificen­t.

But hey, you don’t need to say yes to these ideas. Come up with your own!

Not sure you can do that? Here’s a tip: surround yourself with people who can. Whatever your big idea, make it transforma­tional. Remember Bilbao.

You want us to say, oh yeah, Phil Goff, he’s not the city’s manager. He’s the mayor. He’s, wow, he’s really leading us forwards.

Think change

The CCO model is broken. That’s the “council-controlled organisati­ons”: agencies that do most of the council’s business and are more independen­t of elected officials than they need to be.

Tamihere says sack the Auckland Transport board and John Banks says he’ll sort out AT himself. And you, Phil? You’ve called for a CCO review.

Seriously, you’re going to hide behind a review? You must know

what you’d like to see. Tell us about it. Why let your opponents keep scoring free hits?

The problem with AT is that its delivery failures have been conflated with the policy itself, which is set by council, not AT, and is not bad policy. You’ve got to separate the two. Champion the policy, and tell us how you’ll improve the delivery.

And why don’t you insist Ports of Auckland stops building that car storage building on Bledisloe Wharf, at least until the Government’s strategy for the ports is declared?

What a perfect way to signal you stand for a better city and will defend us from officials who seem determined to make it worse.

Unlock the unlock programme

It’s not all bad with the CCOs.

One of them, the “urban regenerati­on” agency Panuku, has 18 “transform” and “unlock” programmes around the city, bringing growth, change and opportunit­y. From Henderson to Ormiston, Whangapara­oa to Pukekohe, there are good stories to tell about how they’re building communitie­s: economical­ly, environmen­tally, socially and culturally.

Why aren’t you telling us those stories, Phil? This is council improving the town centres and the suburbs, doing work that shouldn’t make us grumble. Inspire us!

Give us a decent downtown

The council has a very good citycentre masterplan, updated and reaffirmed just last month. It includes — or has scope to include — waterfront developmen­t, revitalise­d shopping, greener streets, calmed and reduced traffic, a reorganise­d inner-city delivery system, an arts festival integrated with other activities, better bus routes and safer spaces for pedestrian­s, cyclists and scooterist­s. But will it happen?

The America’s Cup and Apec will both be here in 2021. Just enough time, for a bold and determined mayor, to get it done.

Incredibly, though, you’ve allowed council to treat next year not as a deadline but as an impediment. Most of the good ideas are going on hold till afterwards. What a defeatist load of bollocks.

Phil! Wake up! Bang some heads together at AT, the Auckland Design Office, Panuku and the central council administra­tion. You’ve done it before. Do it again now.

This, by the way, offers a splendid point of difference between you and other candidates. Unless, that is, you plan to continue talking about it but not doing it, which would mean not much difference at all.

Got the message? If you win, it won’t be because everyone’s happy with how things are. It’ll be because voters decide you’re on track to deliver something better. So, convince us.

 ??  ??
 ??  ??
 ?? Photo / Bilbao Tourism ?? The Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao, Spain brought millions of visitors to the city. What if Auckland had its own Bilbao Effect?
Photo / Bilbao Tourism The Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao, Spain brought millions of visitors to the city. What if Auckland had its own Bilbao Effect?
 ??  ??

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from New Zealand