It's a little over six months since Bob Parker was re-elected Mayor of Christchurch. And now, he's threatening to resign unless the council backs his choice of Chief Executive.
This is typical of Parker's autocratic style as Mayor. He makes the decisions, and everyone else is excluded; the Council is reduced to a rubber-stamp. At the same time, its also made the current selection process untenable. If Parker's candidate is selected, any unsuccessful applicants could quite credibly challenge the appointment on the grounds of bias. And they'd probably win. Parker's autocracy has just put the council on the hook for millions in legal fees and compensation. The only way to avoid it is to cancel the appointment process and restart it again from scratch - something which will also cost a considerable amount of money. Either way, the ratepayers of Christchurch get to pay for their autocratic Mayor's stupidity.
Perhaps the best thing that could happen would be for the council to take Parker up on his offer. That way at least people would be spared from his next expensive diktat.
