Craig Lord
Auckland, September 25, 2022
What is the job of the Council and the Mayor?
Many pressing matters affect the standard of living for Aucklanders. Such as the cost of living crisis, crime, road congestion and poor public transport, just to name a few, but sadly Auckland Council is limited in what it can do to assist with such things. The residents and voters need to understand not just what the Council can and cannot do but also the role of the Mayor.
Let us examine a selection of issues to analyse this further.
The current crime wave of ‘ram raids’ and ‘smash grabs’ is threatening our everyday lives, but the Council has minimal ability to change the situation.
Not a security firm
The reason for this is that the Council is not a security firm. It doesn’t provide the police, nor does it have the purview to use ratepayer money to protect businesses from crime. The Mayor should be, along with the twenty Councillors, lobbying the government for better policing and solutions to our social problems.
The government’s job is to provide this to the city, and when they do not, it is the Mayor’s job to use the official position to make a lot of noise about it.
That may not be overly reassuring for the populace of Auckland, who without doubt want immediate solutions, but that’s the cold fact of the matter.
Therefore, Auckland desperately needs a representative in office willing to advocate on their behalf – the ultimate role of the Mayor.
In saying this, businesses that are part of a Business Improvement District (BID) can decide to use their targeted rate to create security plans for the area, but that is not a Council investment.
The cost of living crisis is the same. Aside from the ability to reduce rates or restrict future increases, the Mayor and Council can do little to assist.
Neither can change the price of butter, milk, and cheese.
The Council’s Responsibilities
Where the Council can make a difference for the residents is with core services and that is simply because that is the Council’s overall job. Inside of this is public transport, keeping the streets clean, trees trimmed, footpaths repaired, drains cleaned. It is a long list of very dull items, but the Council has, in my opinion, particular duties to perform.
Some duties are simplistic, but others are rather complex, such as providing effective, efficient public transport. For Auckland, this will be difficult due to many factors, including the landscape, suburban sprawl and a lack of population, making it difficult to justify the infrastructure costs.
For public transport, we need to think outside the box, to come up with innovative and cost-effective solutions that will work in our city and for our people.
It will not be easy, but with good communication and feedback from the public, it is not impossible.
There are also fights on behalf of the populace. Auckland Transport will undoubtedly become one, and this is where the Councillors and the Mayor come into play. It is their job to ensure that the Council Controlled Organisations provide the result the residents want – currently, the residents receive what Auckland Transport wants.
Good advocacy
In summary, the Mayor is not the boss of Auckland City. The Mayor cannot make wholesale changes, and the position is just one of twenty-one around the council table when it comes to voting. However, a Mayor needs to lead the way, speak on behalf of the residents, advocate, and ensure Council and the Government delivers the services.
Overall, this is why I put my hand up to be the Mayor; Aucklanders needed better representation. They need a loud and clear voice from someone who understands the role and is willing to fight on their behalf.
Craig Lord is a candidate for the Auckland Mayoralty.
