Councillor says No Way!
Sam Jennings, Levin Ward councillor for Horowhenua District, threw down the gauntlet during the council’s two-hour debate on its new Long Term Plan this week.
Jennings was the only one who voted against adopting the plan and sending it out to the community for consultation in its current state.
He did not mince his words when it came to what he called lack of “effective governance and strategic direction by councillors.”
He claims the process is flawed in the first place and councillors have failed in their governance. “While I am committed to being positive and constructive around the council table, I just don’t support the plan sitting behind the consultation document — I don’t believe in what we are proposing, nor do I think it is responsible or prudent.”
He voiced his concerns about plans to increase the council’s debt ceiling and debt levels, as well as the scale of proposed rate income increases of almost seven per cent each year for the next two years, and the lack of fiscal restraint around capital projects, as his primary reasons for rejecting the plan.
He was scathing in his view of the effectiveness of sitting councillors.
“Governance has failed,” he said. “Because we have not been effective governors. Management and staff have filled a void left by us. We should have been driving the strategy, and we simply have not.”
He went as far as apologise to the ratepayers and residents of the district for not having done a better job at delivering a better set of proposals.
Jennings also complained about a lack of openness and transparency in the entire LTP process, saying that many of the decisions around what proposals would be included for consultation were “made behind closed doors and without adequate discussion or debate.”
Other councillors have denied the accusation. They say there is plenty of debate and only commercially sensitive issues are dealt with behind closed doors.
HDC is planning capital projects worth $1 billion dollars over 20 years. Jennings objects to council almost doubling its current annual capital work programme to over $50m each year for the next 20 years.
“Elected members have adopted a series of proposed activity statements that include a range of bigdollar projects that they had no or limited detail about, no business cases or feasibility studies and no consideration of how they fit with Council’s overall objectives and vision.”
“Elected members need to remember that the Horowhenua Community is one of the most deprived districts in New Zealand and that rates affordability is not something that can just be paid lip service to.”
He said Audit New Zealand had issued a qualified opinion, which was effectively a red flag from the auditor that there was an assumption relied on by Council as part of the consultation document and proposals that they did not believe was reasonable.
The consequence of the qualified opinion is that Council may need to factor in an additional $27 million of debt on its books, which Council had assumed would be transferred to a special purpose funding vehicle.
Jennings did point to a handful of positives in the proposed plan, including the proposal to allocate funds to develop a water storage reservoir to service Levin and significant roading and intersection improvements.
“We shouldn’t be adopting these proposals for consultation when elected members are expressly taking issue with aspects of them and suggesting that there will be significant changes — that is not genuine consultation,” Jennings said.
Deputy Mayor Jo Mason said she respected Jennings position, but had an alternate view.
“We have been working really hard on the LTP document and set clear limits last September. This has meant that all staff have had to do a lot more work to achieve those,” she said.
“Council staff are always available to answer questions and it will take them time to discuss things with us one-on-one.
“This consultation document isn’t the end. It is rather the beginning and we really want to know what the public thinks. We have spent close to 100 hours on this long-term plan and it will never be perfect. There will always be challenges, but we would like to get ahead of the growth rather than respond to it.”
She said a lot of new work will be required and felt elected members had set a clear direction and priorities.
“We are signalling a lot of capital work, but that is all up for discussion. The real work on this begins now.”