The Evening Star THURSDAY, MARCH 31, 1927. MUNICIPAL AFFAIRS.

Evening Star, Issue 19521, 31 March 1927, Page 6

The Evening Star THURSDAY, MARCH 31, 1927. MUNICIPAL AFFAIRS.

Time was when the mayoral election created a real stir in Dunedin. Now >t is very difficult to produce a contest. There seems to be not sufficient rivalry within the council to withstand the idea that some particular councillor, by virtue of long and reasonably competent service, has earned the council's unwritten nomination for a walk-over. Thus the mayoralty becomes a rolling office, within the compass of quite a fair proportion of the council, except that with the alteration of the term from one year to two,' a councillor’s longevity is now a factor in the arrival of his “turn.” For it is but seldom that any opposition worthy of serious consideration comes from without. The once not.uncomraon idea that it would be a good thing to find some leading citizen outside the municipal circle who would contest the mayoralty appears to have died down. The point about such an attempt is that, if successful, it should introduce fresh ideas and greater driving force into municipal government. But it is hard to induce the right man to com© forward, and it is hard to induce enough ratepayers to depart from custom and elect him. Even if these two obstacles are overcome there is the chance that a somewhat resentful council, led by a block of councillors of long standing, might adopt a policy of passive resistance, and a'l the driving power of a really forceful mayor might be unable to overcome such inertia.

As regards the consttiution of the council, there does not seem to be much prospect of radical change. It is, however, possible that Labor will be without hall-marked representation. Out of the tickets which Labor has run at council elections, Cr MacManus has been an exception in that he has had enough support from non-Labor quarters to qualify for a seat. It is a matter for sincere regret that the state of his health has prevented him from attending council meetings for many months and will preclude him from seeking re-election. Past elections do not suggest that Labor will have any better prospects than before of finding other representation. It is evidently a difficult matter to oust a councillor once he has survived one or two elections. There may be a feeling that our council could be a stronger body, but there also appears to be a rather deep-seated feeling that sitting councillors deserve some reward for the time and attention they give to the city’s affairs, and the only reward the ratepayers have for bestowal appears to he a permit to go on giving the same time and attention.

Recently there has been a widespread and not quickly silenced outcry against the increase in the amount of money demanded from ratepayers per medium of the raising of the valuations of property. That, however, is not an action specifically debited against councillors. But it is recognised that the increased revenue is absolutely required to cope with the rapidlygrowing expenditure, and a good many of those who have to contribute to that revenue are beginning to query the need for such an expenditure, and whether full value is being got for the money. That is a matter in which the council is directly concerned. Under the present engineering regime the chairman of works appears to have completely altered his former attitude, which, without being exactly cheeseparing or parsimonious, was decidedly on© of very keen scrutiny of outlay. It is not exactly surprising to learn that an effort is being made to resurrect the Ratepayers’ Association, an institution which made its presence decidedly felt, first outside the local bodies, and lator within them, when exceptional expenditure, such as for the carrying out of the drainage scheme, was being incurred. To-day there is no one particular item which stands out so boldly in the schedule of civic works in progress or in definite prospect, yet a number of works of fair size and cost make up in the aggregate a programme involving considerable outlay. There is, for example, the raising of the Waipori dam to the -maximum height. Lately there have been some rumors as to delay, and the reason for it, in going forward with this scheme, and it is to be hoped that in the election addresses (if the occasion produces interest enough to stimulate councillors and their opponents to take the platform) some authoritative information on this subject will he vouchsafed. And it is certain that before long the question of greatly enlarging Dunedin’s water supply will have to be seriously tackled. It is understood that the city engineer has for some time been investigating the matter, and in the opinion of many ratepayers, not least those of Anderson’s Bay, it is about time that his report appeared.

But one of the chief functions of a ratepayers' association, if it should materialise, may bo to seek better value for the money expended on works. This may be taken to mean that some stirring up of the corporation’s staff is desirable. There has in the past been something of this done, due chiefly to the activities of one councillor. Wo could point to at least three corporation officials in the past few years who on this account have left the corporation’s employ. All three were energetic, capable men, and all three promptly secured better positions elsewhere. Meanwhile far Jess energetic corporation officials remain undisturbed, and, though they have not attracted the atteutiou of the zealous councillor in question, they have provoked the comment of ratepayers who question the policy which extracts more and more money from their pockets and spends it to such poor purpose. There is a distinct impression that in some departments corporation stroke is slower than Government stroke.. x