CIVIC CONTROL

Dominion, Volume 25, Issue 63, 8 December 1931, Page 10

CIVIC CONTROL

Is Method Out of Date? BURDEN OF RATES Ratepayers’ Criticism The principle that the .universal tram ticket should not be increased in price, but that the City Council should effect such economies as were necessary to make the tramways department balance its own budget, was reaffirmed by the Wellington Ratepayers’ Association at its quarterly meeting last evening. Mr. H. H. Miller, president, said that the rate burden had become such a menace to business, and there was such a tendency to bureaucratic control in municipal affairs, that businessmen were finding that they could no longer leave it to the other fellow; it was now vital to their o.wn business interests to see that city expenditure was kept down as low as was consistent with efficiency. The manner in which the McGill report was received by the council was evidence that the employees of the Corporation practically dominated civic affairs. Who had ever heard of a staff investigation report being handed to the staff for comment before the executive had considered it? he asked. ' The Mayor and councillors were too prone to leave matters of importance to the decision of the staff, and of course there was a reason. Most of the councillors were busy men, and it appeared to be a case of how quickly the business could be pushed through. This state of affairs was almost inseparable from concerns where men gave their services. It was a question whether the council method of conducting city business was not out of date. .Councillors generally knew little of the technical details of city management, yet those men were presumed to know what policy to lay down. v j The executive, Mr. Miller said, was strongly ‘of opinion that it would be a mistake for an officer of the council, no matter how, accomplished, to be secretary of the civic commission. One very strong reason in support of that contention was that in all probability it would be found necessary for employees of the council to give evidence, and naturally no employee would feel free to speak before a superior officer, which would be the case were the town clerk secretary. Election Pledges. . Owing to the serious state in which the present council found the city finances there had been little oppor-' tunity for the finance committee to find ways and means to further reduce the rates, but before the estimates were struck next year some way must be found of further lightening the burden upon citizens, Mr. Miller continued. The majority of the council were elected upon pledges jf rate reduction, and although they had not been able to fully honour their election pledges this year all citizens were expecting them to make another move in the right direction next year. The present Mayor and councillors entered this year upon probably the hardest and most difficult in the history of any council, and this should be remembered when one was expecting things to be done and election pledges to be kept. Personally, Mr. Miller believed little more could be done than had been done since May. Business generally had been very badly hit during the past six months and, of course, civic affairs had been very much upset, too. There was, however, a tendency to rush important matters through the council without the councillors having had sufficient time to go into the necessary details. Even councillors had complained of this. Overwhelming Rate Burden. Mr. T. A. Fraser said that the use of borrowed money in unproductive channels was, to a great extent, responsible for the heavy taxation and overwhelming rate burden of the capital city. Business was being crippled financially, and individuals in the evening of their lives were perplexed as to the ultimate consequence of an everdwindling income. The call to-day was to conserve the municipal purse by pursuing a policy of prudent expenditure and sound administration in place of what indicated lack of constructive thought and vision by men in public life who had a marked tendency to lean too much on bureaucratic dictates that had proved so detrimental to the welfare of nations, let alone a city. “I feel confident,” Mr. Fraser said, “that it will be agreed that the time has arrived for definite concerted action, firstly by citizens throwing off the yoke of apathy and secondly by consolidating the various ratepayers’ associations, not only in Wellington, but throughout the Dominion, into one vigorous ■ Dominion-wide organisation. Parochialism must go by the board and in its place a true spirit of cooperation toward a common goal must prevail. A wider selection of candidates for public office must be insisted upon. “.Selfish individual aspirations in both national and municipal politics must be relegated to the scrap heap. The call to-day is for a Dominion-wide welding together of the great moderate section of the community, and representation in public life by men who have a real stake in our Dominion, and who will pursue a course of sturdy independence entirely free from parochialism.”

A resolution was passed protesting against the association of the town clerk, the chief executive officer of the city, with the commission—Messrs. Morton and Vickery—appointed to investigate the administration of city affairs. It was contended that such appointment was inimical to a true and independent investigation being made.