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'Do as I say, not as I do' attitude from Auckland Transport
News that Auckland Transport forked out $122,000 of ratepayers’ money for a six month trial of an employee shuttle service has gone down in Auckland like a lead balloon.
Auckland Council has been left scrambling in an attempt to save face.
We are concerned by the prevalence of the cavalier attitude towards ratepayers’ money that is seemingly embedded in Auckland Council and some of its associated organisations.
A concerned supporter of the Taxpayers’ Union has written in to us with a list of questions that need to be raised about this latest Auckland Transport gaffe. We’ve condensed them down to the following:
- How many staff need to travel from the Henderson Auckland Transport office into the city office for meetings?
- How often are these commutes made?
- Have alternative options, such as using remote collaboration tools or programmes such as Skype been investigated?
- What efforts have been made to ensure greater efficiencies through the scheduling of all or most of these meetings on a single day?
- Have any feasibility studies been undertaken to ascertain whether or not it would be more efficient to relocate affected staff members from theHenderson office to the city office?
Waste watch: Auckland Council funds conference on polyamory
Yesterday afternoon we received a tipoff that Auckland Council recently funded a one day conference to explore the practice of engaging in multiple sexual relationships with the consent of all the people involved, also known as polyamory.
Last month the gaynz.com website reported that among the first recipients of Auckland Council’s first ever 'Rainbow Door Fund’ was 'Poly Panel, Discussions around Queer Polyamory’, a one day event exploring a framework of ethical, healthy polyamory relationships.
We think that Auckland ratepayers will be horrified that it appears their rates are being used to promote alternative lifestyles.
Why should Auckland Council be concerning itself with matters in the bedroom?
This is just as concerning as it would be were Auckland Council funding conservative lobby group conferences such as for Family First.
Earlier this year the Rainbow Door Fund was established to provide grants for glbti people. We think it is questionable for Auckland Council to fund community groups based on the sexual preferences of their members. Conferences such as these should be funded by the interest groups themselves, not from money meant for roads and core services.
Given the spiralling levels of Auckland Council debt, the Council should be focused on value for money, not throwing funding at favoured groups.
Len Brown "still has questions to answer"
Brown thinks Aucklanders just want Council to get on with work Newstalk ZB - 14/12/2013
He may have been officially cleared, but the Taxpayers' Union believes Len Brown still has questions to answer.An Ernst and Young review has revealed the Auckland Mayor failed to declare tens of thousands of dollars worth of complimentary hotel rooms and upgrades.It also shows ten percent of texts and calls on a cellphone the ratepayers funded, were to his mistress.Taxpayers Union spokesman Jordan Williams doesn't buy the idea the report puts the Mayor in the clear.
"There's still plenty of questions to ask about his misuse of public resources.
"We still have plenty of questions around this trip to China, and particularly why council officials originally mislead us about the existence of the trip."
Len Brown is hoping Aucklanders will consider his conduct, including extensive personal use of a council cellphone, in context.The Mayor thinks he's done nothing wrong, and says the rules aren't clear.
"There are differences of opinion, interpretation, and upgrades issue around gifting, the phone utilization, some of the stuff around my car.
"There hasn't been a real clarity around that when there needs to be, and learnings."
Len Brown says an overhaul of the issues will make the rules more clear.
Report doesn't address secret trip to China - Taxpayers' Union Yahoo! New Zealand - 13/12/2013
Len Brown's Hong Kong trip confirmed
Len Brown's Hong Kong trip confirmed New Zealand Herald - 12/11/2013
The Taxpayers' Union was also upset about the release of details about Mr Brown's trip to Hong Kong.
Union executive director Jordan Williams said it appeared from LGOIMA requests to the council on the matter that council officers "deliberately misled'' about the existence of the trip to avoid scrutiny.
"In addition, Auckland Council staff have apparently been instructed not to speak about the particular trip and to refer all inquiries to the mayor's office,'' he said.