Editorial: Look for cuts inside council

Tauranga Library Friends and Greerton Library 900 are calling for people to protest against proposed. Photo / Andrew Warner

For the past few months we have been told the council needs to cut services to tackle the city's debt problem.

Most recently, plans to change the opening times of Mount Hot Pools, Memorial Pool and Baywave have inflamed public opinion.

The changes to pool opening times threaten the future of the 82-year-old Tauranga Swimming Club, the popular children's sport of flippa ball and early morning therapeutic swims by people recovering from surgery.

Community groups are rallying to stop Tauranga City Council slashing more than $1 million in funding from libraries.

Tauranga Library Friends and Greerton Library 900 are calling for people to protest against proposed cuts which will see the number of new books and DVDs halved and the mobile library axed.

The Tauranga Art Gallery is considering cutting its bus service because the council won't inflation-proof the $864,000 grant it gives each year.

The controversial cuts, while hotly debated, are understandable given the $470 million mountain of debt the council faces. However, it should also be looking to trim costs from within.

Reporter Natalie Dixon yesterday reported the council is taking applications for an executive officer, a new role responsible for providing "high-level advisory support services" to the mayor and deputy mayor. The salary could be between $80,000 and $130,000 depending on the successful applicant's experience, according to sources.

Mayor Stuart Crosby says recent changes to the Local Government Act gave mayors a "greater leadership mandate including more accountability and responsibility" and whoever was employed would assist him with those tasks. In his defence, central government does appear to be placing more demands on councils but his timing is off. Bay residents will rightly question why they should tolerate these cuts to services when the mayor is contemplating spending $80,000 to $130,000 on what one former councillor described as a "back watcher".