Comparing apples and apples
The Herald reports:
More than 200,000 people in Howick and Manurewa will have just eight staff between them for local matters under the Super City set-up.
Manukau City councillor Michael Williams says the agency designing the Super City is under-resourcing local boards, which politicians from the Prime Minister down have promised will have real teeth in shaping their communities.
Howick, the largest of the 21 local boards with a population of 128,100, will share staff with Manurewa, population 86,800. They will each have a manager and share three secretaries and three policy advisers.
Hamilton City Council, with a similar population to Howick, has 862 staff. Palmerston North City Council, with 10,000 fewer people than Manurewa, has 469 staff. …
I’m not sure comparing number of dedicated staff for a board, to the number of total staff for a Council is particularly useful.
In an article prepared for the Herald, Sir Harold Marshall, an architect, engineer and physicist who is on the committee of the Mt Albert Residents Association, said local boards required staffing levels comparable to cities with comparable populations and staff who knew their area and preferably lived in it.
That is just wrong. Boards do not have call centres, accounts sections, IT sections etc etc.And if one goes with Sir Harold’s advice, then the new Council would need massive rates rises to pay for it.
The Botany-Clevedon ward councillor has suggested 12 staff between the two boards.
Now Mr Williams may be right that 12 staff, rather than eight staff, would be a better number for the two boards. That is a reasonable debate to have.
The comparisons to city councils is unhelpful and misleading, and I am a bit disappointed the Herald repeats it unthinkingly, without asking the more relevant question.
How many dedicated staff does the current community board have?
When the Mayor complains about the lack of staff for the proposed new boards, I’d like to know how many dedicated staff the current community boards have.