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Wellington Region Mayors Must Also Be Held Accountable For Wellington Water Wasting Ratepayers’ Money
The media is reporting that I have added my name in support of a letter from my fellow councillors, including the mayor, to the Wellington Water Committee demanding it seeks answers from Wellington Water for systemic issues of wasteful spending of ratepayers money.
This is correct. I support the intent of the letter to hold Wellington Water to account on behalf of ratepayers.
Oversight of Wellington Water ultimately lies with the Wellington Water Committee, which is made up of Wellington region mayors, Greater Wellington Regional Council (GWRC) and Māori representatives. The letter to the Committee seeks full support for the resignation of the chairman of the Wellington Water board, Nick Leggett, and Leanne Southey, the head of Audit and Risk.
While I commend the mayor for acting quickly and support the intent, the letter, however, does not go far enough. The Committee itself also needs to be held accountable.
The chairman of Wellington Water Committee is the mayor of Lower Hutt, Campbell Barry. Also on the committee is Porirua mayor, Anita Baker; Upper Hutt mayor, Wayne Guppy; Ros Connelly from GWRC, Melissa Sadler-Futter from South Wairarapa District Council, and Wellington mayor Tory Whanau.
As the letter to the Committee states, Wellington Water Committee has “… ultimate responsibility for providing the public with accountability for this situation….”
So why didn’t it? And will it now? This is not a time for cronyism. Party politics cannot protect Wellington Water and shouldn’t protect the members of the Wellington Water Committee either.
The mayors had concerns about Wellington Water for over two years and yet that committee did nothing about it. Either Wellington Water pulled the wool over the committee’s eyes or the mayors were ill-equipped to deal with the magnitude of the profligacy.
The buck stops with the Wellington Water Committee, and Wellington ratepayers should not be satisfied solely with this response from the council. The mayors themselves need to take responsibility for the wasteful spending.
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