Tory Whanau: Wellington Mayor talks project cuts, Crown Observer appointment live in studio with Nick Mills - Wellington Mornings with Nick Mills

Lindsay McKenzie has been appointed as Wellington City Council’s Crown observer. 

Local Government Minister Simeon Brown said McKenzie has significant governance and senior leadership experience. 

McKenzie’s term will last until July next year. 

Wellington City Council’s Crown observer will be on the job tomorrow after the Government revealed the man tasked with sorting out “the shambles”. 

Lindsay McKenzie, the former chief executive of Tasman District Council and Gisborne District Council, has agreed to take on the role. 

Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau told Newstalk ZB’s Wellington Mornings host Nick Mills there had been better collaboration at the council in the past couple of weeks. 

”When the Minister was contemplating government intervention, I think that kind of gave everyone a bit of a fright. The last thing the council wanted was a commissioner”, she said. 

Whanau said she wasn’t surprised when the Government decided to appoint a Crown observer. 

”I wouldn’t say relief, just kind of like acceptance that this was happening.” 

When asked whether she’d lost control of her council, Whanau said no. 

”This robustness and perception of dysfunction has been building for years.” 

Whanau believed they could work together but said “unified” was probably no longer the right word to use. 

Asked what she would do differently, Whanau said anything she did differently would result in the same outcome. 

”Everything that I have done is by the book, I’ve done everything with the best interests of Wellingtonians at heart. 

“What we have are some people who relitigate decisions, play politics, play political theatre because that is the nature of Wellington City Council. I stick by my decisions.” 

Lindsay McKenzie is the former CEO of Tasman District Council. 

Whanau believed the council had not reached the threshold for a Crown observer but she accepted that was the Government’s decision. 

She said the council would never be perfect. 

”That’s due to the personalities that are in the room. When you disagree so fundamentally on things like values, policies or so forth, it’s going to cause tensions, it’s going to be robust. 

“We’ve never going to be best friends and that’s probably something I was naive about when I was first mayor.” 

Whanau spoke to Simeon Brown last night who told her the observer was there to help the council. 

She has exchanged numbers with McKenzie this morning and will set up a meeting with him as soon as possible. 

Whanau said she expected McKenzie to observe and provide guidance to ensure the council was meeting its legislative requirements. 

She did not expect him to attend airport board meetings with her, but he will attend council meetings, workshops and meet with elected members one-on-one. 

She didn’t think having an observer was going to be as dramatic as people thought. 

”Because there’s an observer there, we’ll have councillors possibly watch themselves.” 

Whanau said observing the capital city could be quite different from McKenzie’s experience at provincial councils. 

Asked whether councillors had thrown her under the bus, Whanau said; “You’d have to ask them”. 

Whanau said she had not been treated unfairly by her own council and said that it was just political theatre. 

Not every councillor thought she was a great leader but she had a great relationship with the majority of her peers, Whanau said. 

She didn’t think Wellingtonians were embarrassed by having a Crown observer, and she did not feel she had been picked on by the Government because she was aligned with the Green Party. 

Whanau said between $400 million and $600m in capit