Council blasted over appointment process
The Tasman District Council, its mayor and CEO have come under attack for bypassing its own process and having an “unhealthy” culture after appointing Mik Symmons as the new TDC representative on the Golden Bay Medical Centre Trust (GBMCT).
Mr Symmons replaced Harry Holmwood, who has been TDC’s representative on the trust since 1999, but at last Tuesday’s community board meeting, Mr Holmwood verbally attacked council during Public Forum. Serious debate followed during the meeting proper.
Mr Holmwood was the chairman of the GBMCT, but said he was not speaking as its representative at Tuesday’s meeting.
“Due process has not been followed,” he said about Mr Symmons’ appointment.
In March this year, council resolved, in committee, to change its GBMCT representative. Mayor Richard Kempthorne and Deputy Mayor Tim King were delegated the authority to make the appointment in consultation with the Golden Bay Community Board. The process of calling for nominations is also mentioned in that council resolution.
Neglecting the consultation phase, Messrs Kempthorne and King appointed Mr Symmons and instructed TDC CEO Paul Wylie to write to Mr Holmwood, telling him that his term was up and that he had been replaced.
“The appointment process was not strictly according to council’s resolution,” admitted Mr Kempthorne. He explained that, in making a new appointment, council wished to resolve an ongoing dispute over the proceeds of any future sale of the existing medical centre.
Council had previously resolved that sale proceeds would be given to a new integrated health facility in the Bay. The medical centre trust disputed the council’s right to decide where the money should go. The trust has sought legal opinion, and has been told it is the beneficial owner of the land and buildings.
Clarity as to the status of the trustees is important because the trust itself is in the process of appointing trustees for a new term. This process will be undertaken by Mik Symmons, the new TDC-appointed trustee, Dr Iain Russell, and Tasman councillor Trevor Norriss.
Mr Symmons’ appointment compounded an already complicated situation. Council discovered recently that it had neglected to go through the process of appointing or (re-appointing) its GBMCT representative immediately after the 2007 elections. According to Mr Wylie, the correct process of appointment (as required by the trust deed) was neglected in the appointment of five other trustees—John Crocker, Graham Hall, Betty Manson, Colin Russell and John Waugh.
The deed says TDC has to be part of the appointment process, and council has said it was not; however, Mr Holmwood says that, as the TDC’s appointed trustee, he had council’s authority in the process of those appointments and that no other council official had ever raised an objection to this practice.
As council believed that the only trustee whose status was clear was Dr Russell, who is the duly elected representative of the doctors, it reasoned that appointing its representative on the trust had to be done quickly.
Mr Wylie said that some of the requirements of the trust deed were not being fulfilled.
“The council was under considerable pressure to hurry up and do something. It was important to the council that the trust operate in a correct, formal and legal manner.
Council resolutions from the 12 March meeting did not spell out exactly how the appointment process was to be done. Mr King and Mr Kempthorne were delegated the power to appoint, and they did that.”
At Tuesday’s community board meeting Mr Kempthorne asked the board to ratify the process by which Mr Symmons’ was appointed without the consultation that should have occurred, and board members present said they had no problems with that. Board member Leigh Gamby had declared a conflict of interest at the beginning of the discussion and had left the meeting.
At its Thursday meeting, council was to be asked to either formally ratify the appointment process or to give Messrs King and Kempthorne fresh instructions. At the time The GB Weekly went to print the results of their discussions were not known.
Mr Holmwood said that the retrospective approval proposal was “not an option”.
“They need to do what they set out to do. I think I’ve tripped them up. I told the mayor on Tuesday that he has to not only be squeaky clean, he has to be seen to be squeaky clean. If the council is going to vote on resolutions like these and then they’re going to vote on them again as a true and correct record of the meeting, where’s the process? I think there’s a culture within this council that’s unhealthy. I’ve ruffled a few feathers and I won’t dance to the strings they’re pulling.”
Neil Wilson
