Local Government Minister not considering commissioner for Wellington City Council 'as yet'
Tuesday, 23 February 2021
Local Government Minister Nanaia Mahuta has ruled out appointing a Crown commissioner for Wellington City Council amid ongoing squabbles among councillors over the future of the city’s central library.
The idea of a Crown observer or commissioner overseeing the council has been raised several times over the past year, and has come up again following disagreements over plans to privatise parts of the library building.
Councillors voted 9-6 on Thursday to recommend parts of the building be used as office space when the library reopens in 2025, after it undergoes a $179 million earthquake-strengthening project scheduled to begin next year.
The vote came about following a last-minute proposal from mayor Andy Foster. On Sunday, Wellington city councillor Fleur Fitzsimons asked the Auditor-General to investigate the last minute changes, which she called “deeply problematic” and “rather irregular”.
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Mahuta told media on Tuesday she was not “as yet” considering appointing a commissioner to help manage the city council’s internal conflicts.
“I certainly don’t want to be the minister for local government commissions, and my preference is to ensure that local government and councils have the ability to undertake other avenues to be able to strengthen their governance, or seek advice and support,” Mahuta said.
“They have their own professional entities that can offer that type of advice, and I would urge them to look that way first.”
There were numerous late amendments to Foster’s draft 10-year plan before a councillor vote on Thursday, including 11 changes from Foster himself.
Councillors Jill Day and Tamatha Paul suggested boosting the city’s cycleway spending by up to $140m over 10 years, a recommendation which failed by just one vote.
Much of the debate centred on how the council could keep under its self-imposed borrowing cap, which it is proposing to set at 225 per cent of revenue.
It can set the cap at up to 300 per cent of revenue if it wants to, but the majority of councillors agree the council needs to leave some “headroom”. Several other councils have set higher debt caps.
When asked about the decision to set the debt limit below 300 per cent, Mahuta said those were matters for local councillors to determine.
“The councillors and mayors were elected with a particular mandate in mind, and as they come together to look towards decisions that will impact on their community, I’m hopeful that they will make the decisions in the best interest of their community, but it’s up to them.”
Mahuta said she had not sought advice on whether a commissioner would be appropriate for Wellington City Council.
“Not as yet, although as you would expect as minister for local government, I get a fairly good scan of what’s happening across various councils, and as I’ve said previously, there are a number of legislative thresholds that must be satisfied before I even think about [appointing] a commissioner.”
A commissioner is one of several options available to the Department of Internal Affairs to intervene if it believes a local council is unable to resolve or acknowledge its problems.
It is the last resort available to the department. The step is only taken following a departmental review, appointing a Crown manager or appointing a Crown observer.