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The mayor of Christchurch says the city’s low leadership approval rating is partly due to residents’ lack of understanding of the limited powers of the city council.
A recent report from the Christchurch Foundation included a report card for “things that matter” in the city, rating 20 categories from A to F.
Only three categories received a rating below a B: Housing, Reducing Inequality and Christchurch Governance, Leadership and Advocacy, all received a C + rating.
The report, which was developed from responses from 835 residents, said a C rating meant that “more effort should be made to address this issue.”
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Christchurch Mayor Lianne Dalziel attributed the low rating to residents who did not understand how city leadership worked and the limitations of the council’s power.
JOHN KIRK-ANDERSON / Stuff
Christchurch Mayor Lianne Dalziel says she met with investigators after a report gave the city’s leadership a low rating.
Dalziel said he had met with Research First, which conducted the research on which the report is based, to try to understand more about the low rating the city ‘s leadership received.
“Yes … I became interested in leadership because that seemed like something I should know a lot more about.”
He said there is still “a strong misunderstanding about who runs the city and who makes what decisions.”
“If you’re not satisfied with something, it’s hard to pin down who’s responsible, so I tend to get blamed for most things, but okay, that comes with the territory.
Dalziel said an example of misunderstanding was the decision to chlorinate the city’s water supply.
John Kirk-Anderson / Stuff
Christchurch City Council does not participate in the consents for bottling water.
Although the city council approved that decision, it had no choice in the matter because a decision against chlorination would have prompted the medical health officer to order it anyway.
Dalziel also referenced the controversy over the water bottling plants, which were legally challenged last year, saying that the city council is not involved in issuing authorizations for bottling water. These consents are handled by the Environment Canterbury regional council.
Dalziel said he “absolutely, without a doubt” wanted to improve the perception of the city’s leadership.
“I understand how people feel. However, what I do believe is that, in many respects, some of the decisions that are from the past should be left in the past.
“We need to be in a position to move forward together.”
The Christchurch Foundation report also included statistics from another report published in April 2019 on resident satisfaction with the council.
It found that 34 percent of Christchurch residents understood how the council made decisions and that 62 percent were generally satisfied with the council.
