TONY'S ONE FINGER SALUTE

Christchurch City Council CEO Tony Marryatt has given the people of Christchurch the one finger salute - and so has Sideshow Bob.

The arrogance of  the Christchurch City Council CEO is truly breathtaking.

Last year Tony Marryatt  was  told  in no uncertain terms by the good people of Christchurch, that his  $68,000 pay increase  was completely unacceptable. A 4000-strong protest  underlined the fact that the people of Christchurch have had enough of the high handed antics of Tony Marryatt, Sideshow Bob and his chums on council.

Faced with such opposition Marryatt was forced to decline the increase.  Sideshow Bob never conceded that the rise was wrong and would only go as far as to say that the issue had been a 'PR disaster'. How Bob thought he could 'sell' such a obscene pay increase to an already overpaid bureaucrat  is anyone's guess. 

But that was then and this is now.  Marryatt has, effectively, given the people of Christchurch the one finger salute.

He told The Press this week that he would not rule out reclaiming the $68,000 that he received last year.

To add insult to injury, Sideshow Bob has  backed 'Tony'. He has told The Press that it was up to Marryatt what he does with his pay increase.

No  Bob - it isn't up to Marryatt  to decide what he does with his pay increase. He - and you - have been told by the people  of Christchurch that Marryatt  accepting another $68,000  is unacceptable. The people have spoken. It is as simple as that.

Faced with the choice of backing the people of Christchurch or the financially  corpulent Tony Marryatt, Bob has backed his mate. 

Instead Bob has attacked Labour's local government spokesperson for having the temerity to criticise Marryatt.

Annette King has said that Marryatt should drop any thought of accepting the  pay increase.

Said King:  'To suggest that  he is somehow 'owed a huge pay increase - more than twice the national rate of married superannuation - when hundreds of ratepayers  continue to struggle with post-earthquake financial pressures, is beyond stupid.'

Parker's response has been to suggest that King is 'poking her head' into the pay issue. It wouldn't of gone unnoticed by many people that Sideshow Bob's hostility toward  Labour  is in stark contrast to the sycophancy he regularly  displays toward the National Party.

To add insult to injury, Marryatt still hasn't paid back the $26,000 he has already received.

To suggest that he hasn't paid it back because councillors had not proved they could work together is evidence of an CEO  who actually thinks he's entitled to comment on the performance of council. This is completely unacceptable and for Sideshow Bob  to actually defend Marryatt  is reprehensible and does the people of Christchurch an injustice.

Of course Marryatt is simply continuing  the unprincipled and autocratic behaviour that he displayed while he was  CEO of the Hamilton City Council.

In his book Making A Stand, former  Hamilton mayor David Braithwaite commented that Marryatt  '.... thought the mayoralty and its smooth functioning were in his gift and not in the gift of the electors of the city... He was, he said, the best chief executive officer in New Zealand. Clearly in Tony Marryatt's view, he was the city's king-maker and infinitely more important than people who had merely been elected to their positions by the public. Council employees were at his direction, so why not the mayor and council as well?'