Regional shambles

"Let’s be clear: regional councils deserve to be sent off with a pat on the back and a firm shove. They’ve become expensive holding pens for consultants, issuing bylaws no one asked for, and running consultations no one understands. Water quality down, rates up, and when something goes wrong, they blame climate change and hand out a glossy brochure.

"But what we’re being sold as the solution (this idea of a 'mayoral body' running the show) is not a solution. It’s a camel designed by a committee of camels. It takes the worst aspects of regional councils and fuses them with a structural contradiction that will blow up the first time anything controversial hits the table. ...

"In the name of reform, we’re being handed a muddle. No ultimate authority. No single accountable figure. Just a table full of mayors all claiming to be regional leaders while keeping one eye on the local Facebook page and the other on next year’s campaign posters.

"It’s not just bad governance. It’s impossible governance."

~ Zoran Rakovic from his post 'From Council to Circus: Mayors in a Regional Tent'