Local government convincing way of getting things wrong
Has local government lost its way? Gerrard Eckhoff identifies the root causes of so many poor performances of too many councils the length and breadth of this country.
THE recent Otago Daily Times editorial headline, “Playing with fire”, describes the early exit of the Otago Regional Council’s chief executive Sarah Gardner.
As the editorial noted, it is difficult to pin down exactly who is more relieved; the councillors, the staff or Ms Gardner herself. It is, however, the public who have been burnt. They have lost their once justified respect and sense of entitlement to wellreasoned performance from this organisation.
In order to understand why local government per se has lost its way, it should always be remembered that the fragile corridors of Central Government laid down a system that accepts and rewards mediocracy.
Local government performancerelated issues exist all over New Zealand and not just here with the wellpublicised Otago Regional Council. It is therefore important to identify the root causes of so many poor performances of too many councils the length and breadth of this country.
Life in politics is not about learning from your mistakes and correcting them. It is more about justifying mistakes and moving on very quickly. The wide knowledge and experience a councillor may possess can often be seen on council as an optional extra and no more important than another’s abstract love of rivers and mountains.
In no particular order, here are at least some of the reasons for poor local government performance.
The relatively recent introduction and negative impact of party politics to local politics is a huge negative, as obvious as it is selfexplanatory. Paid employment of councillors has not helped. The salary of $50,000 a year will always attract a greater array of candidates, yet no evidence exists that the quality improves. The salary does attract diversity. It is also the attraction of $1000 per week that has too many career councillors seeking to remain on council for far too long.
A lack of knowledge and experience leads to groupspeak where councillors retreat to the safety of numbers during a vote. It has been observed that too often, those with the knowledge don’t have the support, and those with the support don’t have the knowledge.
Some, of course, serve for all the right reasons which usually involves the need for a change of emphasis from monuments to vital infrastructure (see the Three Waters).
Perhaps staff also need to understand that quote ‘‘they also serve who only stand and wait” so it doesn’t help when disaffected staff see elected councillors as an unnecessary impediment to problemsolving. Staff may be right in a perfect world to harbour this attitude, but council is funded by the public, which rightly demands representation.
Compulsory donations (rates) are not linked to ratepayers’ ability to pay nor to council performance. When staff members believe that they would function far better without the council, it tends to illustrate the need for a major rethink of how we do the business of governance and management. It is perhaps the futility of engagement with council, sometimes called consultation, that offers up why local government is seen as dysfunctional and such a source of frustration which undoubtedly boils over from time to time. When playing with fire — as the
ODT editorial put it — some throw water, some throw petrol on the flames with predictable results but these days it is all about having good intention — not outcomes.
Disclaimer: The writer of the above was accorded the singular honour of being voted out of public life. An outcome for which he shall remain eternally grateful.