Councillors upset by ‘illogical’ request

Two South Waikato councillors unhappy with a perceived lack of information coming from council staff have had their “formal request for members information” quashed by their council colleagues.

In the “notice of motion - formal request for members information”, penned by first term councillor Marie Farrell and co-signed by councillor Sandra Wallace, Farrell said she had several requests for financial information declined by council chief executive Susan Law, which prompted the following statement;

“As elected members discuss and debate the Long-term Plan 2024-34, the information supplied to date has been insufficient for us to fulfil our governance mandate; to represent the interests of ratepayers; to provide prudent fiduciary oversight and to ensure the executive is effectively governed and directed.”

In her motion, Farrell went on to ask the chief executive to provide “a complete breakdown of each operational and capital budget for the forthcoming Long-term Plan ... details of how proposed staff cost savings of 5% will be achieved ... schedule a two-day workshop [to] be held 6 and 7 March to determine areas for investment and savings, provide detailed direction to the chief executive and staff on the budget priorities of council, direct the chief executive and staff of areas council wish savings to be made” and, that the “draft Long-term Plan 2024-34 consultation document shall be prepared based on the direction and priorities of elected members”.

Farrell and Wallace stated they wanted their requests to be processed “within five working days” during a South Waikato District Council meeting on Wednesday.

Their requests were met by confusion from some councillors, before it was voted down by the rest of council.

Mayor Gary Petley said it was a lack of understanding of due process by the two councillors which led to their “unusual request”.

“I think they are requesting information staff are unable to give them, and are trying to move their governance roles into management roles.

“This process would have been done normally, as part of our Long-term Plan anyway.”

Petley said he was not happy with them “questioning our staff and CEO’s ability to deliver”.

“They are welcome to their opinions, but the rest of council did not agree.

“The documents they asked for would be huge, thousands of pages, and I’m not sure how much of it they would understand,” Petley said.

Councillor Bill Machen said the motion was “illogical” and was “an insult to our chief executive officer and the staff, because in fact 90% of what’s being asked for is available if you go looking for it now.”

Wallace said no disrespect to staff was intended, and all she wanted was to be fully informed so she could better represent the people of the South Waikato.

Farrell said what she had asked for was not unreasonable and other councils went through their budgets “line by line”.

“But the lack of clarity that I have for what we have done so far is a concern.”