Local Boards Fire Shot Over Mayor’s Bow

Written by Ben Ross - Talking Auckland

Combined Letter Sent

 

budget

I saw this yesterday come across Twitter:

https://twitter.com/HarveySpectre_/status/522945585679056896

I thought to myself what is this all about and so I opened the link which lead to this piece from Stuff:

Brown’s Auckland masterplan gets 21-gun refute

SIMON MAUDE Last updated 15:51 17/10/2014

All of Auckland’s 21 local boards have signed a stinging letter rebuking Mayor Len Brown over his leadership.

Matters have come to a head for local boards who feel “stifled” and “ignored” by Auckland Council, the letter says.

Under the mayor’s proposed Long Term Plan, boards have been expected to significantly cut operating budgets while community projects go on hold.

The letter pulls Brown up for not living up to his promises trumpeted in previous speeches while largely delivering “cuts in funding for local priorities”.

In one 2010 address, according to the letter, Brown said he presented “a vision of an inclusive and united Auckland … A city proud of local communities … and their place as part of a metropolitan powerhouse”.

He continued in the speech: “For our … communities to flourish, we will provide them with the parks and pools to be active, the libraries to learn, and the theatres and galleries to foster the creative talents of our artists and performers.”

Local board policies to foster Brown’s vision have for “the most part [been] ignored”, the 21 board chairs said.

The letter spells-out an 11-point priority list the local boards have identified need adequate funding.

Budget cuts could force local boards to use programme budgets to fund the operating costs of local assets, slowly destroying those programmes.

The chairs are demanding priorities be reassessed and respect shown for the shared governance model.

Auckland council in consultation with the local boards should be developing and considering more funding options, they said.

A spokesman for Brown said the mayor and councillors would continue their discussions with local boards in the coming week, and take all of the board feedback into account when making decisions on the Long Term Plan.

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Source: http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/10630588/Browns-Auckland-masterplan-gets-21-gun-refute?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

 

The Letter signed by the 21 Local Board Chairs can be seen below:

 

Having all 21 Local Boards united is something and something to be taken seriously.

My reaction to the entire situation can be seen in the following links:

 

We shall see how things go in the November Budget Committee