Christchurch City Council and ES - sisters?

(Hat-tip Jan)

OPINION: Nick Smith has missed an opportunity to redeem himself for the hatchet job he did on the Environment Canterbury (ECan) council two years ago. Local Government Min-ister Smith swept into town on Friday at the "invitation" of Christchurch Mayor Bob Parker to meet with elected members of the dysfunctional city council. It probably brought back memories for Smith of the day when he, as Environment Minister, and his gone but not forgotten local government minister predecessor Rodney Hide dropped into the city to unveil the commissioners they had chosen to replace the ECan councillors. This time though Smith was accompanied by Earthquake Recovery Minister Gerry Brownlee at the meeting which Parker originally said he had hoped to "invite" the minister to. You have to wonder how much of an "invitation" it really was. Smith had an announcement all ready explaining his introduction of a Crown observer, and also had somehow managed to secure the services of former Nelson mayor and – quite appropriately for the squabbling council – marriage guidance counsellor Kerry Marshall just a couple of days after his "invitation" from Parker. With all due respect to Marshall, a lot more fun could have been had if Smith had eaten some humble pie for the ECan council massacre and instead appointed another Kerry – former ECan chairman Sir Kerry Burke. Burke was always a hotshot on council procedure, standing orders and the "right way" for councillors to behave at meetings. As an observer of both councils, and despite what politicians find convenient to say publicly, I have to say the ECan council was nowhere near as dysfunctional as the current city council. In fact, unlike what Smith and Hide kept repeating in the hope it might actually become the case, the cobbled-together report into ECan by former National deputy prime minister Wyatt Creech never harped on about the council being dysfunctional. There are parallels here in that Smith and Parker have grabbed on to and keep repeating another convenient supposition that the city council is in its current plight because of constant leaking. Sorry guys, you're wrong there too, no matter how many times you say it. There haven't been many leaks at all, less than a handful. The council is in trouble because not all councillors are treated equally. Appointing Burke as the Crown observer would have been hugely ironic, given Parker was the driving force behind the Canterbury mayors banding together to complain about ECan to the Government. Along with the background unitary authority agenda, the water issue and how it dovetails with the economy were irresistible temptations to those in Government wanting to take greater control. The ECan council was the stumbling block. Just think, Burke overseeing Parker and his councillors! One can only imagine how Parker would have felt in that situation, the wheel having turned full circle.