Praise and blame
The man who got the bouquets — and the brickbats — for the singlefigure rate-increase adopted by the Christchurch City Council last evening was its general manager and Town Clerk, Mr John Gray. In his presentation to the council of the budget for approval, the budget sub-committee’s chairman, Cr John Burn, credited Mr Gray with the ‘‘tight regime” during the budget process which achieved the 6.29 per cent rates increase. The determined workings of the officers — on the initiative of Mr Gray — had made possible the modest increase.
While Cr Burn praised Mr Gray, other councillors felt he had overstepped his authority in taking the initiative in the budget process.
Cr David Close believed that councillors should take the responsibility of setting the rates, not the Town Clerk.
Setting an artificial ceiling of a particular increase meant essential work got missed.
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Press, 24 May 1988, Page 7
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142Praise and blame Press, 24 May 1988, Page 7
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