Local Government Minister Simeon Brown says he is “appalled” by Wellington City Council chief executive Barbara McKerrow withholding information from elected councillors. …
Brown said it was “appalling that information has been withheld from elected members”.
“Ultimately, they are elected by the public and they should have access to information, and they should not have to be using the Local Government Official Information Meetings Act in order to obtain information.”
Brown said he had asked Department of Internal Affairs officials to advise him on the “wider issue” of elected councillors lacking access to council information and what the Government could do.
The issue of CEOs withholding information from Councillors is not unique to WCC, but seems to be far worse there than other Councils.
A law change mandating the Councillors have the same right to access Council information as a company director has to access company information would be a simple solution.
David Farrar runs Curia Market Research, a specialist opinion polling and research agency, and the popular Kiwiblog where this article was sourced. He previously worked in the Parliament for eight years, serving two National Party Prime Ministers and three Opposition Leaders.
2 comments:
We do indeed need a law to curb the arrogance of the 'official' whether in national or local government. I wish some learned researcher would trace the history of this move from public 'servant' to 'master' which appears to have come about in the past 30(?) years.
Would this mckerrow be a leftie by chance?
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