Samantha Motion: Why Tauranga City Council should be replaced

OPINION

Tauranga's mayor has resigned and who can blame him?

But while Tenby Powell was, in my opinion, in many ways the author of his own fate in the combative way he has approached the job - for example, blowing up in meetings - he has also faced what I believe have been petty displays of internal resistance - exemplified today by councillor John Robson loudly clapping over Powell's resignation speech.

The blame for the absolute shambles the council now finds itself in, however, cannot be pinned on any one member.

Powell's resignation will not heal the wound that started festering long before he came into town, and that's why central government must step in.

Right now, Tauranga is supposed to be focused on making a plan for the next 10 years with what its own staff say is a $2 billion hole in the financing needed to build infrastructure to cope with the city's soaring, sprawling growth.

It's a delicate process that requires the council to retain the faith of the community and of various other parties that hold the strings of purses it desperately needs to dip into - most importantly, the Government.

And into the middle of that - on to the ruins of our local democracy - we will now be throwing a double byelection cluster bomb.

Because it's not just Powell's seat up for grabs, there is also a councillor's position to fill after Otumoetai-Pyes Pa ward councillor Jako Abrie jumped off the sinking ship in October, citing the council dysfunction.

I have seen what happens when a byelection and long-term planning are combined because it happened in the last term, too. Gail MacIntosh died and Robson was installed in her place right at the end of the planning process.

Issues were politicised and picked apart by the wide field of candidates in that byelection. The direction of several key decisions was reversed at almost the final hurdle.

The plan that was produced was emblematic of that council - it didn't do much to move the city forward, in my view.

Powell's win was not an emphatic mandate, but I believe it was a message from the majority of the community about the direction they wanted the city to go in and the vision they wanted executed.

They wanted the council united and making progress - forward motion.

That's not what they got, in large part due to the relentless opposition Powell and those who backed his direction have faced - just look at this week's (failed) attempt to push three previous council decisions to referenda.

If all the big calls go to a public referendum, what the heck are we paying councillors to do?

I have not seen Powell make much effort to unite the council despite his election promises to do so. As well as blowing up in meetings, he has said he wanted to lead the city, not the councillors, but unfortunately, the latter is part of the job description.

This was, in my opinion, his biggest misstep. A little more diplomacy and a little less telling the "old guard" to "let go" because he won might have gone a long way.

Having said that, the election race was bitter and the mayoral race never really ended, with several rivals joining Powell on the council, where they have been part of efforts to undermine him and oppose his leadership, from the attempted coup for the deputy mayoralty to some publicly calling for his resignation in August.

I have no faith the remaining councillors will have any more success in executing the community's desire for progress, no matter who wins the byelection. There is too much water under the bridge.

In the past, I have stopped short of saying the council should be replaced with commissioners. I hoped for stability and civility for the sake of the city.

The independent reviewers who last week presented their damning report on the internal ructions opted against what they called the "nuclear option" too, instead recommending a Crown manager be appointed to help the council.

But now I think it's the only realistic intervention for Local Government Minister Nanaia Mahuta. Tauranga needs a fresh start, we've had enough.

The minister has said she is considering commissioners among other options "at the higher end" of the intervention scale.

I say, press the nuclear button. Bombs away.