APPOINTMENT OF EXECUTIVE

Press, Volume LXXV, Issue 22678, 5 April 1939, Page 6

APPOINTMENT OF EXECUTIVE

DIFFICULTY FOR FIRE BOARD {UNCERTAINTY ABOUT FUTURE PERSONNEL * With the biennial elections to be held next month, members of the Christchurch Fire Board found some difficulty at the annual meeting last night in agreeing on the appointment of an executive for the next year. The difficulty arose from the uncertainty about the personnel of the board after the elections, and particularly from uncertainty about the City Council’s representation.

l On the retiring executive there was no representative of Che Labour Party. With ILabour now in. the majority on the Caty Council, hjowever,. there is considered to be a strong possibility of Labour having a majority on the board. This would be obtained if the single Citizens’ Association representative ‘of the council on the board —Mr E. H. Andrews —were replaced by a Labour nominee, for the’ - board is composed of one representative of the Government, and three each of the council and the insurance companies. The appointment of the executive was made by the board last night after it had selected a chairman and a deputy-chairman, Messrs T. M. Charters and E. H. Andrews being reappointed respectively; each by a majority of four votes to three. The nomination by Mr M. J. Russell, of Messrs Charters, Andrews, and K. W. Robinson as executive members, and an amendment by Mr E. A. Sharp that the Hon. J. K. Archer, M.L.C., should be one of the executive, brought the suggestion from Mr Robinson that the appointment be deferred until after the biennial elections. If Messrs Charters and Andrews were reappointed to the board, he would be prepared to refuse nomination for the executive and support the nomination of a Labour representative to take his place, said Mr Robinson. If Mr Andrews was not reappointed, then two of the executive should be Mr Charters and himself because it was desirable to have men on the executive with long experience and to maintain continuity of policy. Mr Archer maintained that as the board had appointed two officers it should complete its. work that night. He added that it was only democratic that one member of the executive should be a Labour representative. Government Representation

After announcing that he would not accept nomination for the executive, Mr Robinson nominated Mr J. D. Carey. He intended no personal criticism of Mr Archer in making this nomination, he said, but he felt it was unfair for a Government representative to be on the executive. The Government contributed only £3OO to the board’s expenditure last year of about £17,000, yet it had one-seventh of the board’s voting power. Mr Archer said he found Mr Robinson’s remarks very offensive. A member of a public body was entitled to the rights of a member. "I am representing the Government, and not £3OO a year. Some of you represent Christchurch, but I represent the whole of iNew Zealand. I did not want to have {to.say that,” added Mr Archer. Mr Carey refused to accept nomination. •The chairman: It is perfectly fair that a minority should be represented on the executive. The board then agreed on the election of Messrs Charters, Andrews, and Archer as the executive.