Nick Mills: A Crown observer is the right call - but a sad one

Wellington Mornings with Nick Mills

OPINION

Yesterday afternoon just after lunch an email landed in my inbox from Simeon Brown.

I looked out my window after four or five beautiful days in Wellington and saw clouds coming in from all directions.

And that's exactly how I felt reading this email from Simeon Brown. It felt like a dark day.

Brown was announcing he was appointing a Crown observer to Wellington City Council.

We all know what led to this point. Mammoth rates rises, the debacle that was the Reading Cinema deal, councillors arguing, leaking, walking out of meetings, and then the airport shares vote which was the last straw.

It was all too much for local government minister Simeon.

He said enough is enough and appointed a Crown observer - or what I call a babysitter. And it's the right call.

Just imagine for a moment what this would be like in your own job.

Management was so worried about your performance that they ordered a manager be sent to your office just to sit there and watch you. How embarrassing.

Although most sane Wellingtonians were calling for some sort of intervention from government, when it finally happened yesterday I just felt sad.

It's a sad moment for our city.

We've been the butt of jokes across the country - some self-inflicted, some not - almost since this council got sworn in.

And although I have been calling for government intervention, it was a shock when it actually happened.

We're not sure who the observer will be, Simeon Brown said he wasn't at that stage yet. But we know the calvary is on its way.

Mayor Tory Whanau fronted a press conference yesterday. She said she was accepting of an observer and would work with them.

She would do everything she and the council could to make it work, she told us.

In my eyes, she almost looked a bit relieved. But this is not a win for her. Yesterday was the worst day of her mayoralty - and there's plenty to choose from.

It's also the worst day of the term for all of her councillors too. This is a problem that belongs to all of them. They should all feel responsible.

The fact our once extremely proud city that I love has had an observer appointed feels like a failure.

We were once the coolest little capital in the world. We were the movie capital of the South Pacific, we were the birthplace of craft breweries and coffee culture. We had the best theatres, art galleries, a great university, and most importantly, it was affordable to live here.

It felt like everything was going well for us.

And now we're the city that can't even run its own council. The city the rest of the country laughs at.

We have things going for us, and I never want us to forget those things. Wellington is not dead or dying.

But things aren’t great right now and it's embarassing it has got to this point. We need a council that can get us back to what we once were.

I can only hope the decision to appoint an observer will help our council understand that.

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