Is it pure coincidence that the Local Government Advisory Board is due to report on Col's amalgamation proposals just before the local government elections that are due on 19th October 2013?
The answer to that question may lie (and I use the word advisedly) in comments made by Local Government Minister, Tony Simpson, in a 'Local Government Update' on 5th August. He said:
"There will be a strong focus on achieving a seamless service delivery during the changeover to the planned local governments in 2015.
During the transition stage, local governments will continue to operate with their Chief Executive Officers in place to run the existing administrations until the new entities are created.
Commissioners will be appointed from the first day of the new entities and will continue in the role until the next elections in October 2015, about three-and-a-half months.
The Minister for Local Government can also appoint commissioners at an earlier stage if the reform process is unsatisfactory…"
In other words, if local Councils, or even their communities, continue to argue or protest we'll put Commissioners who will bow to the Government's will in their place.
Just ask residents of the City of Canning how well that is currently working for them!
Seems odd, also, to put Commissioners in for such a short period - except, of course, that they would be able to make sure that the new local governments were set up in exactly the compliant way that the emperor wants.
I wouldn't mind betting that we'll see commissioners (or should that be Commissars?) from October 2013 for all metropolitan local governments except those fortunate few that are unaffected by the changes or those that have already rolled over.
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