A well meaning ratepayer approached me earlier in the week and suggested that Napier was run by a dictator – that Mayor Arnott called all the shots and that her councillors were just pussies – they simply rubber stamped the Mayor’s decisions.
I don’t believe that is a widely held view but just in case there is that sort of perception out there, let me put the matter straight.
Mayor Barbara Arnott is now in her third term and naturally is now very confident in her role. But to suggest she is a dictator is an insult to all councillors. I can’t speak for the nine councillors who were returned to council in October although I would not like to be the one that tells Mark Herbert he is a pussy.
But I can speak on behalf of the three new councillors, Keith Price, Maxine Boag and myself. Let me assure you we are not just there to make up the numbers – nor are we there to sycophantically agree with all of the Mayor’s views.
The reason the three new councillors have been “low profile” is because we have been head down and bum up learning the ropes. I don’t think that ratepayers would expect or want new councillors to arrive in the Council Chamber, firing shots in all directions, without a good grounding in the undertakings of the council.
I can tell you I am amazed at the complexity of the Napier City Council as a business and most impressed with the officers who run that business on a day to day basis.
For councillors to be effective they need to understand how the council works and that doesn’t happen in five minutes.
The one thing that is taking me time to come to grips with is the time it takes for things to happen. In my first couple of months I felt like saying – “for Gods sake, lets get on with it.” But of course it can’t be like that. There are procedures that must be followed, Laws that need to be adhered to and of course ratepayers who have to be answered to. So the decision making process is inevitably slow.
That of course does not mean, in any way, that anyone, councillors included, is not doing their job. It is simply the way it has to be.
So let me assure you that the Napier City Council is not a one woman band. It is a team of people – officers and councillors alike – who are doing their best for the city.
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