Tensions boil over as Wellington mayor accuses councillors of putting personal ambitions before city

Friday, 17 April 2020

Andy Foster always knew he had a fight on his hands, but he perhaps never envisaged things would get this bad.

Six months ago, after staving off a potential recount from ousted mayor Justin Lester, the veteran councillor took up the mayoral chains for the first time and set about uniting a council still reeling from the shock result.

He publicly acknowledged during the council's inauguration he had a task on his hands to get his new councillors on board, and even hinted at early problems.

Councillor portfolios had taken longer than expected to finalise, and there were clouds over his appointment of Green Party member Sarah Free as his deputy.

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Sources said Free was not Foster's first choice, but was appointed to help appease a restless left bloc who demanded he choose one of their own as his understudy. 

'Balancing, to say the least, has not always been straightforward,' Foster, a councillor of 28 years, said at the time.

'We won't always agree on everything. Sometimes the road will be smooth and sometimes it will be bumpy. 

'At times, we're going to have to break some eggs to make some omelettes.'

But six months later, as the city faces up to arguably the biggest challenge in its history, it seems there have been more eggs broken than omelettes made.

Former mayor Kerry Prendergast has suggested a core group of councillors had it in for Foster from the start, and set out to make life difficult for him.

'Right at the beginning of the triennium, this majority left-leaning bloc agreed to embarrass and thwart the mayor at every step, even delivering an ultimatum about the deputy mayoral position – by law the mayor's prerogative to choose.'

The move had been a disaster, Prendergast said, and undermined voters' decision to elect Foster as their mayor.

WHO IS TO BLAME?

Some councillors say Foster is a numbers man hung up on detail, unable to read the mood of his councillors and make the transition from a lone wolf into a bold decision-maker.

Foster says the issue is with his councillors, and has vented his frustration at some of them not falling into line.

In one of his regular mayoral updates detailing the council's response to the coronavirus pandemic a few days ago, Foster publicly lashed councillors who had voted against his proposal to extend free parking for up to six months.

The idea was put forward as part of the council's pandemic response plan, and was aimed at helping businesses bounce back from the economic shock of the disruption once lockdown measures eased.

'I suspect businesses will be really disappointed that the majority of councillors voted to bring back full charges and full enforcement the moment we emerge from lockdown to Level 3,' Foster said.

Some councillors are said to have taken the statement as a declaration of war, and have also voiced their unease at Foster using council letterhead to promote his own political views.

It was not the first time Foster spoke out publicly against his councillors.

When details of proposed parking rate hikes were revealed to Stuff in February, Foster said it was inappropriate for councillors to talk publicly about closed-door discussions. 

But Foster took things a step further on Friday, saying some councillors had put personal political ambitions above serving the city, 'even in the midst of the biggest global crisis since the Second World War'.

'It's been a challenging first few months. Firstly, pipes started breaking, and now an unprecedented global pandemic. 

'However, my biggest challenge has been a divided council. 

'That is widely seen by our community. I am working with councillors to resolve those issues and address problem behaviours.'

Foster went on to say councillors needed to stop leaking information to the media and endorsing others doing so.

FROM BAD TO WORSE

Debate over the council's proposed pandemic response plan has highlighted the dysfunction within the council, but it is really only the continuation of a rocky six months.

Foster has been up against it on issues like bringing forward construction of an extra Mt Victoria tunnel, introducing congestion charging in the central city, and even the makeup of a mayoral taskforce to look into problems with the city's water infrastructure.

A core group of left-leaning councillors, dubbed by a source close to the council as the Justin Lester Memorial Committee, has often been at the centre of the fight against Foster.

But the opposition has also crossed the political divide. 

Among those who wanted to overturn the council's support for enabling local authorities to introduce congestion charging were Labour Party members Fleur Fitzsimons, Rebecca Matthews and Teri O'Neill.

But among those who wanted to retain that support were Green Party members Free and Iona Pannett, along with Foster. The support was eventually withdrawn following a casting vote from committee chair Jill Day.

The division among the council was further evident at last week's meeting to vote on the proposed pandemic response plan.

Foster had to relinquish plans to set aside $8 million for events in the next 12 months - that money was redirected towards job creation and innovation - and extending free parking for up to six months.

In both instances, councillors Diane Calvert, Malcolm Sparrow, Simon Woolf and Nicola Young sided with Foster.