Comment by Cameron Brewer – 12 August 2013: What do you think? $5.1m has been spent on polling, surveys, and market research by this council and that doesn’t even include all the polling done by council’s massive CCOs such as Waterfront Auckland, ATEED, and Auckland Transport (All of which are survey and poll-driven fruitcakes!). At the same time the Mayoral Office has been using Labour pollsters UMR – and so far has spent over $162,000 of ratepayers’ money to test the political mood of “current issues”! What’s more, a huge (undisclosed) amount of money has been spent on TVNZ’s preferred political polling company Colmar Brunton to survey us little old representatives about how we feel about our jobs!
Polls cost millions
Herald On Sunday – By Bevan Hurley – Sunday, 11 August 2013:
Len Brown’s Auckland Council has spent more than $5.1 million on pollsters and surveys in the past three years.
A council spokesman said about 60 per cent of the spending was required under law, mainly for annual planning and reporting.
But councillor Cameron Brewer said spending on pollsters was “out of control”.
Brewer said: “Think of the improvements a local park or playground could’ve enjoyed with this money. Instead it’s all gone into lining the pockets of private pollsters.”
The figures were released to Brewer under the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act.
“It’s time to stop the spinning and get back to delivering core council services for ratepayers,” he said. He suspected the polling was being done for “purely political reasons”.
A further $212,237 has been spent on around 15,827 panellists that the council use to “have their say on a wide range of council issues, activities and plans”.
Brown’s own office splashed $162,985 on UMR Research pollsters over two years.
“This was commissioned to assist the mayor to fulfil his role leading the development of plans, policies and budgets,” a spokesman said.
Brewer said the $5.1m figure was only the tip of the iceberg.