WAITEMATA COUNTY.

Auckland Star, Volume L, Issue 62, 13 March 1919, Page 7

WAITEMATA COUNTY.

jjATTEB OF ADMINISTRATION. MR. E. H. WRIGHTS REPORT. X special meeting of the Wait etna t a County Council was hold in committee yesterday to consider the final report of jlr. E. H. Wright upon the administration of the affairs of the county. Previously four reports had been submitted j,y the investigator, and the one presented yesterday comprised over thirty folios of typewritten matter. There were present at the meeting:— Messrs. H Aitkenliead (chairman). .A. ,1. Hadfidd, W. Hyde-Hart, A. M. Lang, John Broady, Frank Dye. .1. W. Harrison, Alex. Siuton. Captain Theet, F. Foley, jnj W. Oliphant. In previous reports Mr. Wright dealt with preliminary work, general organisation, finance, county roads. The report states:— "In deal.ng with these questions T have endeavoured to deal with them from a plain business standpoint, with the sole idea of establishing tho county administration upon ?. straightforward business footing. I "will rirst discuss the question of the council's own administration, for the council, being the controlling body, ia therefore the finally responsible authority for any existent state of affairs"Speaking generally, the Waitemata County, although half its population live in a semi-suburban district, is probably jn ofle of the worst roaded and most iaekward areas similarly situated in Dfew Zealand. The County Council i≤ the authority responsible for this state of affairs, as it has under the Counties' Act full authority "to erect, construct, and maintain within the county any public works that in the opinion of the council may be necessary or beneficial to the county." On the plain showing of the results, the council has failed to pursue a policy such as is required to properly carry out these objects. "In the <*ourse of my investigations it has beeorae increasingly clear that, if the present hostile attitude of several council members towards the urgently necessary reforms which have Tjeen recently instituted, can be taken as the attitude toward- progress and reform of previous councils on which they sat, a little- further explanation on my part is needed in order to explain at least one caustf for this unfortunate state of affairs. On their part it may of course be a matter of genuine opinion, but under such conservative administration real progress would seem to mc to be impossible. "With all due deference to the previous councils, many members of which I well believe were honestly doing their test for the county under the very limited administrative and business capacity ehown by the representative bedy as a whole, there is not the slightest doubt in my mind that many quite unsuitable men have in the past been elected to all positions of riding representatives. This has no doubt opened the way for others to put forward business and adhere to methods which, if not of doubtful character, were quite capable of being- go construed, and I am afraid that much of this has gone on in a manner very detrimental to the reputation of the whole council. The position in such cases becomes naturally lag-gravated in the minds of ratepayers ■srho are generally unaware of the full iacts. and to whom in the past information either could not be, or was not given."

The report further on states that the actual duties and responsibilities of councillors are but hnperfectlv understood, and that it is time the prevalent idea that the riding member should oversee all work and act practically as super foreman of works shou'd be changed. The position of a councillor is comparable to that of a director of a company. His duties and responsibilities do not extend further than direction, but he undertakes the responsibility of seeing that his executive officers carry out their work effectively and in the interests of the county as a whole.

The present system of each separate Tiding being practically governed by the ridinpr member is not intended in larw at! all, and in this instance has resulted in j there being no united central policy or | control, in the avork of the executive officials "beinjr jrreatly increased in many i wave, and made much less generally effective. It has resulted in a patchwork policy in roadini'. in main roads which should be the care of the whole county, a- provided for in the law, re- j maining well or badly kept according to the financial position of the riding through which it happens to pass. In regard to by-laws, too. the same thing lias happened.'and whilst in one ridinc B. by-law is operative by council decision the influence of the member in another: area causes its application to bo withheld. The report further adds that by-laws, if enacted, are operative without dis- j tinction, and, if they are not satisfac-] ton- to the general mind of the council i they should either be rectified or rescinded. Meanwhile the council is steadily losing considerable revenue; from such sources; as traffic, wine and, dog licenses, which it i= its duty to have! collected. I

"Unless it properly seconds its officials, and requires them to carry out their duties fully an 1 properly, the council can hardly take the staff to task on the ground's of inefficiency, if the example which it set? in other matters is oni- of personal influence and indefinite policies. I am, of course, aware that on some occasions this may mean risking the of political support, but that is a question which T trust, however, no councillor would take into consideration where the application of evenhanded justice is concerned. It is of no nee to get round such issues, as the position has eventually to be faced, and only by dealing with these matters promptly and judicially v ill the work of the Council ever be placed on a proper administrative bar-is. A lack of decision on the part of the Council, together with the continued e'-il effects of what may be termed the "Riding Sys-

tern," the non-declaration of main: county roads, and consequent ineUtti- i cient upkeep, are unfortunately bad and Very noticeable features of the present administration, which should be altered | as soon as possible." i In dealing with the County Engineer! and departmental administration, the report states ir- not much to add to what had been said under the head- ( ing of i-oiinty administration. ""1 ami satisfied." add* Mr. Wright, "that there] las been gros.- interference on the part Of individual imineiilnrs with the Engineer in his duties, and that, being often require 1 to do an impossible amount of Work for one man. he h&~ consequently fail* 1 :■■ carry it out to anyone's satisfaction." The ;eport aN > states that! the Rnjrineer, in the dual capacity of a licetsed surveyor and rivii engineer, had keen called upon more or lese generally, $O ( £H wha; in most local bodies were J

separate positions. "For some time the V-ounty Engineer has been acting a good deal more in the capacity of a epecially qualified ioreman than a"n engineer, the remedy for this anomalous position being, of course, to appoint the requisite foreman, of which four are necessary, to attend to the county work." Mr. Wright also reported in respect to the account* that he found difficulty in finding the expenditure on any particular road, therefore ho had introduced a Public Works ledger for the engineer's department, which would show the expenditure on each road in the county, and the nature of the same. air. Wright a-o reported that the clerk had been blamed for excess of expenditure in some ridings, but that was quite unfair, as the responsibility for expenditure rested not with the treasurer, but with the councillors. The financial position "t the county was controlled entirely by the vote of the council and not by " the clerk. Alterations had been made "in the system of books in the clerk's office to prevent overlapping. In the discussion which followed councillors objected to the tone of the report, especially where the county was referred to as one of the worst roaded and most backward areas similarly situated in New Zealand. It was pointed out that a roading scheme in a poor <rum district could not fairly be compared with conditions existing in a rich district hke Taranaki. The report ended:—"Tf the recommendations in this report are carried out the council will be we!! satisfied by those now its officials, much better so than by making changes which may quite as easily fail to produce what "is required."' After a lengthy discussion the report was received. A motion to terminate the engagements of the heads of staffs was moved, seconded pro forma, and lost by ten votes to 1.