Maddison Northcott Stuff
Goodie bags for Christchurch city councillors starting the electoral cycle included top-of-the-line tablets and hundreds of dollars worth of induction perks.
More than $96,000 of extras for new and returning councillors and community board members were dished out after the local election in October. Weeks later, councillor salaries were bumped up to $114,130 annually, amid rates continuing to climb.
Items included a $2407 Dell tablet, with councillors able to swap their ratepayer-funded iPad Pro for the more expensive device. Also included was a case, power supply and pen for the device, totalling $108 each.
Mayor Lianne Dalziel, along with 12 other councillors, opted to trade in their iPads in favour of the newer model, a document provided under the Local Government Official Information and Meeting Act revealed. The iPads were purchased as late as 2017.Four councillors – James Gough, Aaron Keown, Phil Mauger and Andrew Turner – instead decided to use an iPad used in the previous term.
All community board members were lent a secondhand iPad Pro and a new power cable. Most also received a new keyboard case, at $259 each.
Other technology perks included a $990 annual allowance, most of which is intended to be spent on wi-fi and phone calls.
Council community support, governance and partnerships head John Filsell said the new tablets provided "better support" and supported a paperless system.
The iPads were due to go to "end of life" at the end of 2019, meaning they were not supported by their manufacturers, he said.
All devices remained council property and were recycled or donated to a not-for- profit community group when they reached their end of life, he said. Since 2007, about 5000 devices had been donated.
New Zealand Taxpayers' Union researcher Islay Aitchison said the perks were "unnecessary sweeteners" and indicated the council "isn't taking residents' calls for rates relief seriously".
"While residents languish under soaring rates, elected officials are enjoying unnecessary lavish perks that most ratepayers couldn't afford to purchase for themselves," she said.
Councillors elsewhere in the country should reject similar offers, Aitchison said.
