Opinion - Stefan Speller’s The Public Square: Long may Palmerston North have stable council leadership

I congratulate Palmerston North Mayor Grant Smith and his council for their shared culture of constructive disagreement. Photo / Kevin Bills Media

OPINION

Last week, South Wairarapa district councillors made a unanimous vote of no confidence in their Mayor, Martin Connelly. Gore Mayor Ben Bell was also asked to resign by his council this year.

Closer to home, we saw a vote of no confidence in then-Horowhenua Mayor Michael Feyen in 2017. And these are hardly the first time council relationship breakdowns have hit the news.

Whether the issues are around the role of karakia in meetings, absenteeism, or ineffective or divisive leadership - reporters stand ready. And voters stand to gain very little.

The cost of dysfunctional councils to their organisation and voters is significant, but not necessarily obvious.

Firstly, communities can lose their biggest advocate, the mayor. Mayors often make more impact than most backbench MPs, and infighting can essentially neuter them.

Where there are allegations of wrongdoing or disagreements to work through there is simply less time for reading reports, attending events and standard council business. More requests for information from the media are lodged, slowing up the mayor’s office.

Lawyers and mediators can be needed at a significant cost. One Dunedin city councillor’s fight over a $12 parking ticket cost the council more than $14,000.

And if there are internal leaks to the media, as in Gore, the intensity around trust and communication worsens further.

Public meetings become more closely watched, which can have a chilling effect on what councillors and staff choose to say openly.

Good decision-making involves robust discussion, vulnerability and testing ideas. Where there are fractious relationships, it becomes difficult to have the openness needed to freshly approach decisions. A dysfunctional council is less likely to have well-considered decisions.

Infighting means deeper alignment along personal lines, rather than issues. Current Palmerston North city councillors have party affiliations, leanings and views but often vote pragmatically on individual motions. You can see voting blocks change and shift, sometimes with each motion.

I am not suggesting there is no tension between our elected members, but rather that it is generally appropriate to the issue being debated. In fact, I’m commending the mayor and collective council for their shared culture of constructive disagreement. Where there is tension or disagreement that escalates, it is dealt with internally in a way that doesn’t become public or antagonistic.

We know poor governance leaves organisations at risk of missing opportunities. It creates risk in areas of accountability. It allows an uneven split of work allocation, causing resentment and burnout. Poor-performing staff and councillors are not dealt with. It also creates potential for breaches and fines, and drives away business.

Commercial real estate agents will tell you that sales slow in general election years because of business uncertainty around future direction. The same principle applies to uncertainty that can be created by councils.

Local and national businesses looking to invest need certainty at the top table. A good example is the Palmerston North City Council attracting and retaining the Toyota head office and, more recently, the Australian Defence Apparel New Zealand hub.

And finally, where a council is dysfunctional, voters are unlikely to get movement on the issues they voted for. So regardless of political views, issues or leadership style, long may we have stable council leadership. For the sake of our finances, attracting businesses and seeing movement on voter issues.

Stefan Speller is a Palmerston North governance board chairman, speaker and local government commentator.