Christchurch City Council CEO Tony Marryatt faces an uphill battle to save his job, despite the best efforts of Sideshow Bob. In the light of this debacle, is it now time to look at 'reconstructing' the Christchurch City Council as well as the city?The campaign to remove Tony Marryatt from his position of Christchurch City Council CEO has gathered momentum with former Hamilton mayor David Braithwaite speaking to the campaign group last week.
Braithwaite often clashed with Marryatt who was, at the time, the CEO of the Hamilton City Council.
Braithwaite told the group that Marryatt had created an environment of fear and bullying' in Hamilton, and was often referred to as "the 14th councillor".
'Shortly after I was elected, he told me that he was running the city and not me ... he was an unelected bureaucrat who interfered with the order and management of the city.'
It's understood that the Council is split 7-6 in favour of reappointing Marryatt but there is pressure on Marryatt supporter and former ACT candidate Aaron Keown to withdraw from the appointment process. That would deadlock the council at 6-6, with Sideshow Bob having already reluctantly said he would take no further part in appointing the CEO.
Keown last week asked councillors if they supported Marryatt and he has also made public statements supporting him.
Keown says he is not going to withdraw from the appointment process but he may find he will forced to do because legal action will almost certainly be commenced if he doesn't and Marryatt is reappointed.
Regardless Marryatt looks like a lost cause for Sideshow Bob and his chums. Bob's faithful right hand man has managed to lose the support of nearly half of the council and significant local business interests.
At the best of times this affair would not be - in Bill English's words - 'a good look' for the Christchurch City Council but in quake-ravaged Christchurch it is very ugly indeed.
Certainly it adds weight to the argument that we should also be taking the time to reform the Christchurch City Council to bring it under the control of the people it is supposed to represent.
We require mechanisms to be make the Mayor and councillors directly accountable to the people of Christchurch.
Go on ... vote Marryatt back in ... it would only be one more nail in the coffin ... there's plenty of nails there already.
ReplyDeleteMaybe Marryatt could sell the city to Dave Henderson with an exclusive option to buy it back at the same price after it's re-built. Seems like a fair deal after what they did for good old Hendo!
ReplyDeleteFrom Councillor Barry Corbett, who voted for the pay rise, he said the decision was based on Marryatt's STRONG performance. "We had a company that provided us with all the information and that is what I judged it on. I thought he did that position well" Further he believes that (Marryatt) "..has kept us going. "That is what the market says and he has performed BETTER THAN ALL THE TARGETS. And Corbett's absolute classic - "I didn't take that much notice of the numbers, because I thought that was unfair. You go through and see how he has achieved his targets and everything else." Corbett promotes his electoral mission statement "My mission has always been making the best decisions for Christchurch at the lowest possible price."
ReplyDeleteMy goodness do we really pay this person to sit on the council he is extremely muddled in his thinking, he is completely uninformed and should take a little time to READ UP on Marryatt's exploits, his history in Hamilton and Invercargill and his mismanagement and hideous lack of performance and accountability in Christchurch.
But then look at this gem Christchurch City Council directors of Christchurch City Holdings Ltd, the Council's infrastructure investment arm are Mayor Bob Parker and Councillors Tim Carter, Barry Corbett and Sue Wells. Councillor Jamie Gough appointed as Council director on the board of Vbase, the Council-owned company responsible for the four major venues, Christchurch Convention Centre, Christchurch Town Hall, the CBS Canterbury Arena and AMI Stadium. Ngaire Button and Tony Marryatt are also directors of VBASE.
They all know what side their bread is buttered on no wonder they do what Mayor Bob says. Urgent investigation AND EXPOSURE is needed.