City Councilor Jenny Condie Concerned About Legal Risks of Library Proposals

Wellington City Councilwoman Jenny Condie says she is concerned the council is failing to meet its democratic obligations by ignoring advice from officers on the future of the city’s central library building.

Councilors voted 8-7 on Thursday to scrap the idea of ​​selling parts of the building to help fund a $ 179 million improvement, meaning that option will not be posted for public comment in the draft of the 10-year plan for the advice.

The vote came on the back of a proposal by Councilwoman Fleur Fitzsimons to eliminate partial privatization as one of the funding options, which she acknowledged went against the advice of officials.

Condie said during the meeting that he was concerned the board was not following due process and that eliminating the option had legal risks.

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“This is an audited document, we have obligations under the Local Government Law,” said Condie.

“It is very clear what can and cannot, and what should be in this document, and I think that by eliminating this [option], we are potentially in breach of those obligations. “

The council was opening itself up to possible judicial review, perhaps from the Taxpayers Union or potential developers interested in a vacant office space in the building, Condie said.

Fitzsimons acknowledged that the proposal was not consistent with the officers’ advice, and that the Act required the boards to consult on all major options on how projects could be financed.

But he said the legal risks were exaggerated and that councilors were not required to always comply with the advice of the officers.

Earlier in the meeting, Mayor Andy Foster also introduced a belated change, proposing that partial privatization be eliminated as the council’s recommended option, rather than eliminating it entirely.

He said the council’s preferred option should be to fully fund the reconstruction and retain full ownership, allowing it to break its debt limit in the first three years of the plan. That recommendation was unanimously accepted.

Foster said there has been a lot of talk about “privatization” and that “it is not true.”

Things heated up considerably when Councilwoman Rebecca Matthews was told to watch her tone after criticizing Foster for providing misinformation when he proposed the privatization option two weeks ago.

“The decision that was made did not mention anything about office space, the proportion of a building [to be sold]and numbers, ”Matthew said.

“You speak of credible options. Well, I would say that what he presented to us was not a credible option. “

Deputy Mayor Sarah Free, who was chairing the meeting, said the comments were getting personal and asked Matthews to “tone it down a bit.”

Foster accused Matthews of misrepresenting staff, claiming that the sale of office space had been discussed in councilors’ workshops. That claim was refuted by some councilors.

Foster also successfully proposed restoring full funding for the council’s library resource budget, having recommended two weeks ago reducing it by 40 percent over two years.

He apologized to the Chinese community for not consulting them on an earlier proposal to withdraw $ 6.5 million of funding for a planned redevelopment of Frank Kitts Park, which includes a Chinese garden.

The council’s revised total spending over the next 10 years was higher than previously agreed, with loans exceeding 225 percent of agreed revenue for the first three years.

Removing the Partial Privatization Option: How They Voted:

For: Jill Day, Fleur Fitzsimons, Laurie Foon, Sarah Free, Rebecca Matthews, Teri O’Neill, Iona Pannett, Tamatha Paul, Nicola Young. Against: Andy Foster, Diane Calvert, Jenny Condie, Sean Rush, Malcolm Sparrow, Simon Woolf.