Councils Holding the Country to Ransom

[elguapo]

Yes yes it's always the council's fault.

It isn't limited to the council, it's true of almost all government IT projects. The UK government even created a whole project management methodology, Prince2 to try and stop it. It didn't.

Scope creep is the cause and it's also true in this case.

[PTILoveYou]

It isn't limited to the council, it's true of almost all government IT projects. The UK government even created a whole project management methodology, Prince2 to try and stop it. It didn't.

Scope creep is the cause and it's also true in this case.

A lot of engineers in council do the Prince2 courses, and they are so happy to get the qualification /rolleyes

[eri]

Yes yes it's always the council's fault.

not council's fault

the fault of a mayor who as cfo

is either dishonest or incompetent

[elguapo]

A lot of engineers in council do the Prince2 courses, and they are so happy to get the qualification /rolleyes

I'm sure they are. Prince2 is, however, complete arse.

[Perry]

which is exactly the mangawhai . . . parallel

http://www.oag.govt.nz/2013/mangawhai

What a damning indictment early on in that report:

Out of depth with public private partnership decision

KDC decided that it wanted to explore a public private partnership (PPP) approach,
to keep the debt "off the balance sheet" and to put as much risk as possible on to
the private sector provider.

In my view, this decision took KDC out of its depth. It followed all the right basic
steps when it initially went to the market for advisers and put the project to tender,
but it did not fully understand the complexity of what it was doing.

Lambs to the slaughter and the ratepayers pay the butchers.

[Bob Kane]

The failure of the council to properly control the project lays with the council.

Exactly.
All these big IT disasters boil down to the owners not controlling the project - poor project management.
It's unlikely that a govt dept or a council would employ a highly skilled project manager.
They just appoint 'Bill' who has worked in the office for 20 years and ''really knows his stuff''.
Nex minit, $100 million wasted.
No problem - they just recover that from ratepayers/tax payers and carry on.

[PC]

Dairy companies build an entire green field factory for less than $100m.
Look at the new one as you drive South of Auckland.
That is a lot of stainless steel, new trucks plus all custom control systems.
What on earth requires $100m of IT effort???

To track a few thousand rates bills? Just use excell - $100!

[elguapo]

Dairy companies build an entire green field factory for less than $100m.
Look at the new one as you drive South of Auckland.
That is a lot of stainless steel, new trucks plus all custom control systems.
What on earth requires $100m of IT effort???

To track a few thousand rates bills? Just use excell - $100!

It cost a bit more than $100m, just over $200m in fact. But the point is reasonable.

[eri]

surprise surprise

having lied about his super-sized spending plans for the supercity

brown doesn't want it democratically rubbed in his face

that he prefers submission

Auckland Mayor Len Brown opposed the idea of a referendum last month, when an advisory group presented the council with options of either a motorway toll averaging $2 or higher fuel taxes and rates, saying he expected tens of thousands of people to make their views clear in submissions to the long-term budget.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/ar...ectid=11363802

[speights boy]

I agree with no referendum.
Just get on with it already; start bringing in user pays.
Our biggest mistake was removing the bridge toll all those decades ago.

"It's a change to the social fabric of Auckland if every time a car goes on the motorway it clicks up a charge," she told the Herald.
"That's a different Auckland to the Auckland I live in now and the Auckland I want to live in."

NZ has voted for record immigration, 80% of it into Akl.
Time to pay the piper.

[eri]

I agree with no referendum.
Just get on with it already; start bringing in user pays.
Our biggest mistake was removing the bridge toll all those decades ago.

NZ has voted for record immigration, 80% of it into Akl.
Time to pay the piper.

sounds like you are suggesting

wellington pay

for auckland transport

[speights boy]

sounds like you are suggesting
wellington pay
for auckland transport

I repeat....

Just get on with it already; start bringing in user pays.

[eri]

so all congested roads in nz

to get tolls

because local gov. have diverted rates

into non-essential + pork barrel projects

how about

they say what they are going to do

then do it + and only that

how about the piper

plays the tune he's paid for

.....

we've never had a council with so many spin doctors

and i presume so many

closed door meetings

and ignored sunmissions

[speights boy]

how about
they say what they are going to do
then do it + and only that
how about the piper
plays the tune he's paid for

What I said.
No wasting further money on referendum.
Just get on with user pays tolling.

[eri]

the calls for a referendum

are because council seem to be ignoring submissions

and deciding what they will do in closed sessions

no transparency

no accountability

no limit to the money they chew through

no happy residents or rate payers