Will Victoria rule over Auckland?

For those who have witnessed the lack of strong leadership on the Auckland Council the appearance of Victoria Crone into the mayoral battle should give a reasonable level of hope.

Certainly, in the face of the Labour candidate’s lack of business experience, a strong business leader may be the right choice to bring back the SuperCity to be a truly representative local government institution .

To many ratepayers, Auckland Council appears to have been run by a cabal of senior bureaucrats, in collaboration with a compliant Mayoral Office, to the exclusion of Councillors not in Len Brown’s gang and 21 powerless Local Boards.
Ratepayers and residents have been totally ignored and have looked around in despair for a way forward when the Brown era comes to an unlamented end.

There has been a multitude of calls for someone to step forward and challenge Labour’s Phil Goff who is perceived by many as being just a few steps from the Mayoral Office.

Victoria Crone has taken that step forward and certainly appears totally well equipped to manage the bureaucracy and now she faces the challenge of how to restore the confidence of the people of Auckland in its Council.

She will face two major issues – a budget which is leading to higher rates and greater debt, and a Proposed Unitary Plan which may be falling apart at the seams.
I look forward to hearing more from Ms Crone on her vision fort Auckland – and give her a first question to address.

Will she undertake to review the business case for an early start to the City Rail Link – particularly the current intent to start construction, and spend hundreds of millions of dollars, years ahead of the time when the Government may contribute to half the cost?

ENDS

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