By PHILIP ENGLISH
Auckland Mayor Christine Fletcher wants to cut the number of council committees from 14 to seven, sparking claims that the proposal has more to do with relaunching her mayoral campaign than good governance.
Mrs Fletcher said her planned committee structure would lead to better outcomes for the council's strategic plan.
The existing 14 committee and 24 subcommittee structure was unwieldy, costly, inefficient, and compared with other councils, large and burdensome, she said.
Her plan comes just two months after the Herald revealed that Mrs Fletcher and the 19 councillors drew $1.3 million in ratepayers' money in their first 13 months on the job after voting themselves maximum pay rates at an extra cost of about $450,000.
Councillors felt overloaded with meetings, she said. Policy decisions overlapped on several committees.
The new committees should be based on the seven priority outcomes of the strategic plan: leadership, effective transport, celebrating and recognising diversity, the natural environment, strong and healthy communities, economic prosperity and urban intensification.
A paper on Mrs Fletcher's proposal will be debated at Thursday's council meeting.
The proposal came "out of the blue," prompting the chairwoman of the finance committee, Kay McKelvie, to ask why Mrs Fletcher had not raised the matter at last Tuesday's strategy meeting with committee heads.
"I believe the mayor's sudden passion for 'focusing committees' and 'streamlining process' has more to do with the launch of next year's mayoral campaign than good governance.
"Her covert goal is to confuse the decision-making process that controls the operation of the council, so that in the runup to the next election she will appear as a mayor who is in control, decisive and forthright."
Victoria Carter, chairwoman of the city attractions committee and a likely challenger for Mrs Fletcher's job, wondered "if this isn't the mayor's attempt to be remembered for something more than removing the Queen's portrait."
Councillor Bill Christian said "sinking the ship midstream" would result in the council coming to a shuddering halt as new committees came up to speed.
Before the 1998 local body elections, Auckland had 24 councillors and a mayor, 12 standing committees and 13 subcommittees.
Now it has 19 councillors, 14 standing committees and 24 subcommittees. All but three of the 19 councillors chair committees.
Since 1998, the Waitakere City Council has cut the number of committees from 23 to six.
The North Shore City Council has reduced its committees from five to three.
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