The Timaru Herald has a piece this morning about ECan's budget woes, with the council facing an $8 million deficit due to the cost of the earthquake. But amongst the boring-but-necessary details of local body accountability, there's this little bit:
However, "commissioner engagement" – formerly known as "democratic process" – was expected to be one of the few portfolios to post a major surplus. The paper's summary explained that the portfolio's projected $345,00 surplus was due to "staff not being required to budgeted levels" and "council and committee meetings being shorter and fewer in number than was previously the case".Or, to put it another way, ECan's dictators spent less money on democratic engagement by not doing any. So much for the government's claims that their appointed flunkies would consult the public...
