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03 August 2005
Auditor-General finds Council made unauthorized
payment
An Auditor-General’s
report has found that Manukau City Council officers made an
unauthorised payment of $27,495 to Twig Publishing Ltd for its
controversial new citywide publication.
The Office of the
Auditor-General was asked in June to investigate processes
followed by the Council when deciding to produce a citywide
publication earlier this year.
Howick Councillor
Jami-Lee Ross was one of three people critical of the Council’s
actions and welcomes the findings of the Auditor-General. “The
Council’s decision to invent its own propaganda machine was always
flawed from the start, but the fact that $27,000 of public money
was wasted in the process is inexcusable.”
Mr Ross wrote to the
Auditor-General to raise concerns surrounding the proposed
publication, especially about information being withheld from
elected Councillors and the quality and accuracy of advice from
Council officers.
The Auditor-General
has found that:
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Twig Publishing did
not have intellectual property rights over the proposed
publication as Councillors were advised;
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Sufficient
information to make an informed decision was not provided to
Councillors at the Strategic Directions Committee meeting in
April 2005;
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The intention of
awarding a contract for the publication without a competitive
tender process was unjustifiable;
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Legal advice should not have been withheld from Councillors at
an extraordinary Council meeting on 2 June 2005;
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Council officers
made an unauthorised ex gratia payment of $27,495 to Twig
Publishing without Council approval.
Mr Ross says he has
never supported the concept of the publication, but was most
concerned at the amount of public money involved and the poor way
in which decisions were made. “The proposed citywide publication
is going to cost ratepayers half a million dollars every year for
something that will be tossed straight to the rubbish bin.
“That tremendous
amount is very worrying, but I am also concerned about the fact
that Council officers did not provide sufficient information to
Councillors at one meeting, and even refused to provide
Councillors with legal advice at another.
“Councillors often
have to rely on the advice of officers and we expect that advice
to be of a high standard. Unfortunately in this case, poor advice
has led to an unauthorised payment of money at ratepayers’ expense
without prior knowledge or approval of the Council.
“The Manukau City
Council is expected to make decisions in accordance with sound
business practises and act in an open and transparent manner. That
hasn’t happen in this case and the Council needs to sharpen up its
act in the future.
Mr Ross believes the
Council should discard the proposal in light of the report of the
Auditor-General. “The proposed citywide publication will always be
stained with the mistakes and controversy that has erupted over
the last couple of months. This finding from the Auditor-General
will cast a dark shadow on the whole ordeal and Council should now
abandon the project in the best interests of the city.”
ENDS
Click here to read the report
from the Auditor-General
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