Super City? Super Shambles!

As the full extent of Auckland City’s financial position begins to come clear, it’s most interesting to hear the proposed cost reduction measures being promoted.  Thus far the focus appears to on reducing park maintenance, cutting library hours and possibly even closing some of the City owned and operated swimming pools.  (Ironically, this from the same Mayor who trumpeted “free swimming” for all kids under 16 only a few years ago.)

Way to go Councillors!  Let’s focus on cutting back those minimum wage earners.  This is akin to the troubled corporations who kick off the cost reduction programme by taking the biscuits out of the kitchen.

Meanwhile, we hear that Auckland City has more than 1,500 people who are paid more than $100,000 per annum.  In recent years I have lost a couple of corporate people to “jobs at the Council”.  I couldn’t believe what they were getting paid then and I can’t now.  And these are not the top-drawer people; they are actually pretty average.  A quick glance at the annual reports of five of the companies listed on the NZX top 10 (Contact Energy, F&P Healthcare, Ryman, Sky City and Sky TV) reveals that they have just 1,387 people who are paid more than $100,000 per annum between them – in total!  Surely this is where we must start!  Not necessarily with the people, but with their departments and roles and the services they are meant to be performing.

You need to break the discussion down to two areas:  Operations – the execution of day to day functions and operational activities within the organisation – and Governance – the leadership and operation of the Council.

Operations
It’s important to remember the core roles of the City Council.  Things like Transport, Sewerage, Water, Parks and Recreation.  So you have to ask, what are all the other things these guys are doing that requires an organisation of thousands of people, many grossly overpaid.  Since when was the City Council a highly paid career move!
In simple terms, there is a need to consider the following questions and actions:

So here’s another thing.  When was the last time you heard about a local council considering a cost reduction programme?  Never.  Despite the fact that most businesses in the world have had to go through various and often dramatic downsizing three or four times in the last 20 years I am yet to hear of a council doing the same.  Why?  Because they don’t have to worry about revenue.  They just put the prices (rates) up, and add new charges for existing services (water & rubbish), irrespective of the financial climate.  If Aucklanders look hard at their TOTAL rates bills over the last 5 years (including water, rubbish etc.) they will find that they have at least doubled, and in some cases tripled during that time.  Incidentally, those last 5 years have been among the most financially difficult in history.  These people must really care about their customers.

Governance
When Auckland became a Supercity they merged seven small, difficult to manage organisations into one big, impossible to manage organisation.  But here’s the biggest problem.  They may have made a bigger organisation, but they didn’t upgrade the capability, particularly at Board level (read “Council level”).

I can still remember the new Mayor, Len Brown, fresh from beating John Banks in the first Supercity election talking about a fresh start for a vibrant new city – and then turning to the councilors – the same old faces, and thinking “it ain’t going to happen”.  Take a look at that first Super City Board.   Just look at some of the names – George Wood, Ann Hartley, Mike Lee, Christine Fletcher, Len Brown, Sandra Coney, Arthur Anae, and Richard Northey.  They’re the same old faces in a different guise!  Guess what!  If nothing changes, nothing changes.

It is important to highlight that these people have often worked tirelessly for our communities for a very long time, and we should be enormously grateful to them, because they have performed a role that many of us (myself included) would not want to volunteer for.

However, we need to understand that someone who has held a Board seat in a failing system at Rodney, Papakura or North Shore is not necessarily qualified to sit on a board of the Super-City.  It’s like going from the Board of the local School and putting your hand up for a gig at BNZ bank. (Slight exaggeration, I know, but you get the idea.)

Unfortunately, the democratic process does not deliver the best candidates for the job.  Most highly capable people with strong leadership and governance experience could think of nothing worse than entering the political process, lobbying and campaigning, all for a role that takes up a lot of time, particularly evenings and weekends, and pays nothing.  Not to mention having to go through it all again in three years time.

Added to the lack of capability, is the fact that, even our most senior local government officials are not subjected to anything like the level of scrutiny that our nationally elected officials do.  Imagine if Brown and Co had to face the press pack after each Council meeting like the central government ministers do.  But there is no accountability.  These people campaign, get elected, then disappear for three years, and because we don’t know what they have been doing we vote for them again.  Well now we do know.  They’ve been borrowing and spending and issuing promissory notes on our behalf.

So how do you get the right people and skills around the Council table?  Other Boards that are governed by constitutions, such as in sport, not for profits, industry associations, and education, have the same problem.  They overcome it by appointing Board members with the skills they need, to complement a lesser number of elected officers.

Sadly, the reality is, that when a large organisation hits financial trouble, democracy doesn’t work.  (Just ask Barack Obama.)  We need to change the constitution of our Super-City so that just half of our Councillors are elected, and the other half appointed.

So where to now?
If Auckland City was a company, this is what you would do:

Better late than never.