Who stole our voice

http://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/2339294/Who-stole-our-voice

Worth reading.

I particularly like this bit:

"That is a region of 1.4 million people controlled by 20 councillors and a mayor. Explain that in democratic terms? We can’t.

Mr Key and Mr Hide might as well have set fire to the money the commission cost, though that appears not to matter since neither man can say what cost savings their proposal will bring.

Mr Hide claims to have consulted the region’s mayors. He has not. Auckland’s mayor John Banks does not represent the region – yet.

North Shore’s Andrew Williams even goes so far as to accuse him of misleading the people of Auckland.
Mayors are asking to be told what is going on, which seems far from unreasonable.

Manukau’s Len Brown, rightly, has called the government’s proposal a travesty for local democracy because it strips away the local voice.

The commission produced an 800-page report with 100 recommendations. If its work was irrelevant, as seems evident, the process must be open to question.

The government’s proposal is an insult to Auckland, an insult to North Shore, an insult to Manukau, Waitakere, Rodney, Papakura and Franklin – and worse, it is an insult to democracy.

There is no doubt Auckland can benefit from a new model – just not this one." "

There was a nice little bit in the Herald saying that, "Putting Rodney Hide in charge was a kin to putting a shark in charge of a snapper going down the gurgler." The quote, purportedly from Shane Jones, Labour's spokesman for Local government, appears to have been removed now.