Hay vows to bring CCOs to heel

Mayoral candidate David Hay expressed his concern today that council-controlled organisations (CCOs) that have recently indulged in “kite flying” exercises that do not represent council policy. He has vowed to put a stop to that behaviour, if elected Mayor.

“In the past few months we have had Auckland Transport floating the idea of a tramway from the city to the airport, and Regional Facilities Auckland promoting a national stadium to be built in Auckland. Neither of these proposals is current council policy” said Mr Hay.

“I won’t have CCOs indulging in these types of kite-flying exercises, trying to lead council policy, or influence it by fueling media speculation and manipulating public opinion. If elected mayor of Auckland I will ensure that these council-controlled organisations are fully under the control of council.”

“A CCO may be invited to put policy proposals and business plans before the council, for consideration by Auckland’s democratically elected representatives. But they have a specific job to do: and that’s to implement council policy, not to shape it.”

Mr Hay has previously worked as a Senior Business Analyst in the NZ Treasury’s Crown Company Monitoring Advisory Unit (now known as COMU).

“I genuinely support the CCO model as a way of getting things done efficiently” said Mr Hay. “But these organisations need to know who’s in charge. And in a democracy, that’s the voters, through their elected representatives.”

ENDS

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