The Auckland Ratepayers’ Alliance understands that a meeting of the Council Controlled Organisation (CCO) Oversight Committee lapsed without commencing on Tuesday because not enough councillors turned up on time.

The CCO Oversight Committee was established by Mayor Goff in 2019 to monitor the performance of CCOs such as Auckland Transport and other entities which Auckland Council has an equity interest in. Tuesday's meeting was due to consider performance reports submitted by each CCO for the March 2022 quarter. However, the Ratepayers’ Alliance has confirmed that quorum of 11 on the 23-member committee could not be obtained. This was due to not enough members arriving on time.

Ratepayers’ Alliance spokesman Josh Van Veen says, “Ever since Mayor Goff came to power the CCOs have been a law unto themselves. This committee was supposed to rein them in, but councillors don’t take the role seriously at all. The fact not even 11 of them could be bothered turning up on time suggests they have their priorities wrong. With an $85 million deficit on the Council balance sheet, this is the forum to ask hard questions of CCO executives who are responsible for spending billions and billions of ratepayers' money.”

“It’s almost as though some councillors want to bury their heads in the sand rather than stand up and represent their people. The spend now, ask later approach of this Council will ultimately lead to service cuts and delayed infrastructure unless there is a reality check."

The Ratepayers’ Alliance has been informed that the Council will hold an extraordinary meeting on 10 June to deal with the business of Tuesday’s meeting.

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