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The item we find the most extraordinary of all is the amount spent on lawyers (Question 1) — the best part of $1 million in both 2021-2022 and 2022-2023. Mr Power is actually an in-house lawyer who former CEO Doughtery took on mainly to watch his back, and Power contined to serve the same role for his successor, Mr Maxwell.

He should, for his massive fees, save KCDC from considerable out-sourced legal fees to Law firms like Simpson Grierson and Buddle Findlay. But during Power’s reign as the CEOs’ legal supremo, KCDC has been mired in law suits such as the Mayor Gurunathan defamation case which KCDC lost, having to make an undisclosed payout. Then there was the wrongful prosecution of a couple for cutting down trees on their property, the illegal putting information on LIMs another court loss, and various battles over the coastal provisions of the District Plan.

In March this year Mr Power was quoted on the front page of the Kapiti Obersver as saying that neighbours of the planned 240 Kapiti Road development seeking a judicial review of the council process had no case when they had a very good case.

KCDC has a record of being a losing team on the legal front and the biggest share of the blame for that must lie with Mr Power. This leads to Question 3 about Mr Power’s status within the council now. His contract ended on 5 February 2023. Is the failure to renew the contract an indication that new CEO Darren Edwards is aware of the problems caused by Power’s poor advice? Without a contract Power will be billing the council on hourly charge-out rate and lord know what that is (a partner in a firm like Simpson Grierson will be on $1000+ an hour, while a staff solicitor will be between $300 to $600 an hour). For the sake of Ratepayers it is hoped the new CEO will take steps to stop the hemorrhaging of Ratepayers’ money spent on exorbitant legal fees. Ratepayers deserve better.

Question 4 — Mr Maxwell did very well out of Ratepayers with his $600,000 payout in 2022.

The Question 2 answer — Really?

The answer about the 26-29 Marine Parade property indicates that the council fortunately made a nominal profit of $500,000 on the sale in 2021 of its purchase 2 years earlier, although that would have been reduced by commissions and fees. As long as the new owners don’t erect an eyesore on the land or get a subsidy from Ratepayers, it’s unlikely that their intentions matter much.

A staff turnover of 27.4% in the year ended 30 June (Questions 9-11) is very high and worse than the 21% that it was 4 years ago.

Why on earth does KCDC need 12 spin doctors (Question 12) which cost an average $108,000 each (see this post)? That’s an impressive figure for people in that role.