Political system frustrates
Serious dysfunction between Auckland Council’s governing body and the 22 local boards has been revealed through an external review.
Underlying the 18 separate problems highlighted in the review was an adversarial usversus-them mentality between the two rungs of Auckland’s government.
Among the most worrying issues were: the local boards not feeling empowered to make decisions, the governing body cancelling local projects at the last minute, and frustration over local board members not supporting Auckland Councillors’ views in public.
Project manager of the government’s framework review, Gareth Stiven, outlined a political system still finding its feet since the amalgamation of the Auckland Super City in 2010.
‘‘It’s a massively different, unusual and complicated governance structure,’’ Stiven said.
‘‘Culturally and structurally I think there’s still a way to go.’’
One of the major issues outlined in the review was the lack of clear definition over what the local board versus the governing body’s separate responsibilities are.
Clarifying the local board’s role is one of the next steps planned for the government framework review through a series of workshops with all 22 local boards.
The drafting of an official report is expected towards the end of August.
‘‘"Culturally and structurally I think there's still a way to go."’’