“A FOOLISH SYSTEM”

Hawera Star, Volume LIII, 9 March 1934, Page 8

“A FOOLISH SYSTEM”

i> LOCAL GOVMINMJiNIf., .' H UTT A * ‘ GLARING'' EX AMPLE- ’ i The Mayor of: Lower Mutt (Mr t W. Andrews) recently made some cau: tic comments on-the. present systemor want of system—of local goverr ment (reports the “Evening Post”). “I want to say just a. word or tw ■ concerning the job you have given m ; to do,” he said at a- public meeting ‘T want to tell you that I am doin my very best to serve you well, bu existing conditions tqhe almost all tb Stuffing out of me. I believe that pu system of local government is a foolis' one; that we have too many board and councils; and too many member on all of them. There is probably n more glaring example of what I refe to than the one in our midst. “Why we need four mayors and 31 or 40 councillors, part of a count; council, a river board, a gas board, ai electric power board, a city and sub urban liignwavs hoard, and dozens o social workers’ committees, and othe; bodies, with their separate office build ing ami all their armies of permanom staffs, to indifferently control the dis-

trict from Upper Hut-t to Eastbourne is beyond my understanding,” said Mr Andrews. “My own job is no better and not much worse than I expected it to be, but I am having it forced upon me more and more every day what an absurdity it all. is. One devotes three or four hours every day to routine borough work in an executive capacity, and say five or six hours to inter-views with harassed relief workers or their wives in need of a home or more food, and an odd one to presiding at some public or social function. At the end of the day one thinks hory mueh better it could all have been, done by a- manager specially trained and possessing qualifications, assisted by an office clerk. “At Petone and Eastbourne and Upper Hutt the same routine is being gone through daily and the same feeling of impotence must frequently overcome their mayors. And the' same problems are being settled four times

bv four mayors, ami councils, instead of once by one mayor or manager-, to sar nothing of the problems' left to the other bodies with rating powers who are elected separatelv and" who spend' other money provided bv the same set of ratepayers. “In the interests of efficiency and economy some way out of this must he found. I am afraid that our alleged democraceis have outgrown, their usefulness in the continual further decentralising and duplication of control.”