February 7, 2012
We got the message, says Mayor

Mayor Jenny Rowan said she and fellow councillors were not insensitive to the messages from the protest outside Council EOC building this morning.

“We got the message, which is why we are looking to prune $50 million dollars of work from our 10 year budget and bring the forecasted rates increases down to around 6.5% or lower for the immediate outlook and lower still over the longer term.

“We understand what people are saying. And I can understand people being upset about the pay catch-up for our CEO, especially if you are on a fixed income of $30,000.

“We went through a process over the CEO’s salary late last year. It involved taking professional advice. It became clear during that process that the CEO’s salary was completely out of kilter with his responsibilities, which are considerable, and the salaries being paid to other CEOs in the region.

“Despite the increase, he is still ranked 5th for local government CEs in the Wellington region.

“If Local Government Minister Nick Smith wishes to take an interest in our processes, then that is fine by me. We have a strong and focussed Council that works hard to understand the issues and even harder to achieve consensus.”

Mayor Rowan said there were no parallels with the situation in Christchurch. “The situation there is substantially different with a Council facing entirely different issues (both externally and internally) and a CE paid in excess of half a million dollars.”

She said it was difficult facing the protest and some of the anger, especially given the amount of time that she and her councillors spent on public work.

She noted that the placards refereed to a variety of issues, and not just the CE’s salary, and that it was every one’s right to make their views heard.

She will be meeting with Mr Cooper, however, to discuss his concerns, at a time yet to be arranged.

ENDS

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