It is said that you
reap what you sow. The developing saga of lines company Aurora /Delta which is
in turn owned by the Dunedin City Council (DCC) raises several other issues
beside delinquent maintenance of their power lines. Delta estimate around 3000
of their power poles are not fit for the purpose. There has already been one
staff death due to a pole snapping during routine “maintenance”.
There is a widespread
belief that public ownership of utilities such as a lines company gives the
public greater security of supply, control of service delivery at a fairer
price, coupled with a healthy dividend back to the parent company. That simply
isn’t true.
There is also an expectation of council owned companies to be as good,
if not better employers than the private sector with a major emphasis on health
and safety. That’s not true either. As for financial benefit thru full public
ownership, the Otago Regional Council and therefore the public of Otago,
‘enjoy’ a 1% return on its public ownership of Port Otago and its subsidiary
company - Chalmers Property. How good is that?
Councils are a
monopoly so it should come as no surprise that all councils exercise that
privilege to a very high degree. Indeed, the DCC was widely seen as having paid
far too much for the lines network formally owned by the Central Otago
generator Pioneer Central. This was because the new owner (DCC) was deemed to
be entitled to a 10% return on its investment (by the Electricity Authority) while
devoid of competition. Thus, we of the peri urban sector, pay more in lines
charge from this monopoly provider (Delta) than we do for the actual electricity
delivered by Delta.
The growing disconnect
between governance and management has yet again been illustrated by this sorry
power pole saga where frustrated staff are apparently forbidden to talk with their
governing body. Due to this demarcation between staff and councillors or board,
vital information is not being passed on to the board /council who set the
policy for management to administer. Surely the free exchange of knowledge or concerns
between staff and governance is essential for the wellbeing of any organization
so that an understanding of the actual situation at the coal face is better
understood by all. Matters of managerial
jurisdiction are obvious or at least should be but it does need to be clearly
understood that a duly elected councillor is in fact an independent contractor,
whose duty is to the public and not in the first instance - to the council. A
board member’s duty is to the wellbeing of the company and not the shareholder.
Dunedin City Holding LTD
chair Graham Crombie (appointed by the DCC) has announced that an independent
investigation will be conducted into the state of the lines network - which is
entirely appropriate. As Mr Crombie has something of a conflict of interest,
should not the appointment of a suitably qualified person be achieved by the
Electricity Authority? It is also reasonable to expect that Mr Richard Healey –
a former employee who went public with his concerns should be reinstated as - say -the overseer of
health and safety operative if Delta is to start being a good employer. Any renewing of confidence in Delta, Aurora,
DCHL, and the DCC requires an open and transparent inquiry process that the
public can have confidence in which in turn means the inquiry cannot be held -
“in house “
As for the board of
Aurora and Delta especially - they would
do well to remember the comments and actions of Lord Carrington the British
Foreign Secretary once the news broke of the Falkland Islands invasion by
Argentina.
“I was wrong in my
assessment of what they were doing therefore I am responsible. I am responsible
but not to blame.” He resigned. I can confidently predict that no director of
Delta will resign or be sacked
Politics is a
performing art. The public need to see their local Government politicians and
their appointees performing as they should with transparency and accountability.
Anything less is perhaps predictable but entirely unacceptable.
1 comment:
Great article Gerry!!!So true. A few weeks ago the Otago Daily Times had an editorial questioning the right of CEOs of council companies to expect huge salaries.
I wonder how many people remember the Peter Principle? A person reaches their level of incompetence. In today's world 'management' are not held accountable. They move on in a few years. In North Otago a public relations person was hired (at huge cost) by the District Council. Her achievement was (she claimed) great signage for all the districts towns and villages. Like the emporers new clothes town after town accepted these. Suddenly little Herbert stood up and said they were ugly. Sepia tones and Victorian cursive writing which was not easy legible to driving motorists. They wanted their own sign back.
Meanwhile the instigator of these signs had moved on. A red faced Council and villages left with unattractive signs and well out of pocket.
I ask -
What does a CEO or CFO on a huge salary achieve that a dedicated Town Clerk did not? Often these dedicated Town Clerks served for long periods and gained respect. Most CEOs are here and gone in a few years. Off to meddle elsewhere. Leave that for big business. Time for our towns, cities and districts to have sensible stable and hard working people dedicated to their domain not their bank account.
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