Certainly it brought forth changes in Auckland that have been extremely costly, and have resulted in an increase in the governing bureaucracy of that Super City. It is however a global trend in our present “Cosmetic Age”, as opposed to previous ones such as the Age of Enlightenment, and the Age of Reason which have contributed to real progress and the advancement of mankind.
Let
us not be befuddled with the idea that amalgamation is a remedy as it pertains
to our Local Government. It is not. In reality, it is just another form of nationalisation
- the “Bigger is Better” syndrome, of which the Auckland Council is a supreme
example, merely BIGGER in every sense, and concerned mainly with the problems
of inner Auckland! The outer fringes
being still somewhat similar to provincial New Zealand!
When
the concept of Local Government came into being it formed the basis of people being
elected from the town or district they resided in to serve as leaders, ensuring
the orderly organisation and development of local services. They acted as an
accelerator and a brake on the expenditure that the ratepayers could afford.
It
was a relatively simple process that evolved into what, up to a few decades ago,
served us well on a local basis. But since then Local Government has evolved
and entered into areas such the ownership or part ownership of airports, port
facilities, transport etc. As local public bodies, this brings these councils
into direct competition with private business and industry – an alien concept
to the founders of Local Government. The
fact that councils actually compete gives them a decided added advantage over
private business in that they are backed financially by an endless, ever
increasing levy of rates. This goes some
way to covering up any mistakes, financial or otherwise, made by those councillors
and council employees, who cannot be subjected, unlike those in private
companies, to the Companies Act. It is
in layman’s language, “A Sacred Cash Cow” that can be milked without much
regard to any consequences.
50
years ago Central Government concerned itself mainly in the field of
Government; however more and more duties have been transferred from Central Government
onto Local Government, with the expectation that councils should fulfil more of
the traditional roles that are the province of Central Government. Local Government has become a slave of its
own bureaucracy. One has only to recall the staff numbers in local councils a
few decades ago, compared with the huge levels of staff employed now, complete
with vehicles - along with the extra development charges above rate demands in
our present period - to realise the extent of this ever increasing bureaucracy.
There
have been sinister moves by certain Local Councils in New Zealand to circumvent
the present electoral system and institute councillors and others, onto various
Boards by the appointment process. When one looks at this decision, it is in
reality just an extension of the MMP electoral system in Central Government. Nearly
half of our representatives in Parliament are not elected by any democratic
process, but installed as List Members. Appointments
to any Public Office are by their very nature, a non-democratic way of avoiding
elections which strikes at the very heart of democracy. They are a prelude into
a state of dictatorship whereby the election process will become an obsolete
way of obtaining representation.
The
main problem with our Local Government is its increasing mushrooming effect,
not only in staff levels but in the adoption of excessive regulation –
including unnecessary committees, whose extra demands create further costs on
services, which again is placed upon ratepayers. Also are our paid elected councillors actually
“competent”? Have they enough business acumen and foresight, to know and
question what their CEO places before them?
Obviously some are, but with the almost
daily increase of new rules and regulations, fostered by the RMA and Regional
Councils, it becomes probably an impossible task to differentiate between the “wheat
and the chaff”.
The
time has arrived for Local Bodies to become Private Companies in their own
right - again retaining the democratic right of ratepayers to elect Directors
instead of Councillors, but at the same time with consideration given to having
advisory professionals on the “Board”.
The second advantage is that, as a private company, the obligations that
Directors have in making crucial decisions and assessing their impact, will be
far greater than under the present system in that they will be subject to
Company Law.
What
functions should the new Business/Councils undertake?
Firstly this
entails reducing the ever widening scope of our present councils, by returning
to the old concept of “Ultra Vires”[1] on any activities these new Business/Councils may wish to pursue
outside of the normal “core” services.
This in itself would reduce the present staffing levels on Local Government
Councils, which over the past decades has increased at an alarming rate.
At
the same time Central Government has to take back those decisions and
activities which it has thrust upon Local Government which are the province of
Central Government.
How should any shareholder resident/ratepayer system work? A simple answer would be to classify all ratepayers whether domiciled in cities, town or districts as equal shareholders. There would be no expensive or unnecessary transfer of fees, as ALL shareholder ratepayers would rate equally whether they owned one or several properties.
This is only a prototype
proposal, aimed mainly at reducing council powers and demands upon ratepayers -
and initially curbing excessive expenditure principally on non core activities.
At the same time giving back shareholder ratepayers more control by curbing
this inherent bureaucracy that has been a dominant feature of Local Government
since the 1980’s.
The concept needs input,
criticism, and advice, and most of all it needs the attention of us all. Some have
suggested that this system has flaws, and that it would be impossible to
implement. I hope it does have flaws, as
these can be ironed out, and as for impossible: “We put a man on the Moon some
decades ago, we have controlled and in some cases eliminated disease, and in
1492 Columbus did not sail off the edge of the world, he found America”!
Brian Arrandale is a keen scholar and writer with a background in farming and management.
[1] ‘Ultra Vires’ is Latin - Beyond the powers: The doctrine in the law
of corporations that holds that if a corporation enters into a contract that is
beyond the scope of its corporate powers, the contract is illegal. The doctrine
of ultra vires played an important role in the development of corporate powers.
Though largely obsolete in modern private corporation law, the doctrine remains
in full force for government entities. An ultra vires act is one beyond the
purposes or powers of a corporation. The earliest legal view was that such acts
were void. Under this approach a corporation was formed only for limited
purposes and could do only what it was authorized to do in its corporate
charter.
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