Auckland bureaucrats 'out-of-control' with $500K new slogan
Panned by everyone from iwi to new mayor Phil Goff.
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Hawke’s Bay
Auckland Council's $500,000 new slogan is a case of bureaucrats out-of-control, ACT leader David Seymour says.
The slogan – "The place desired by many" – is a stilted translation of the city's Maori name, Tamaki Makaurau.
It was created after a two-year effort by council agency ATEED to "establish a narrative" that involved 115 staff.
But it has already been panned by everyone from iwi to newly elected mayor Phil Goff to Act MP David Seymour. "I'm out door knocking in the Epsom electorate today and what I generally hear constituents want from the council is not a new slogan but some other things," Mr Seymour says.
"I have people caught in battles with the council to trim or remove dangerous trees, people furious about rates increases, and people concerned about housing affordability, congestion, and public safety. Those are the things the council must focus on."
Mr Goff has yet to comment on the cost of the new slogan but says he will not champion it.
ATEED's slogan project comes after its 2013 initiative to launch a new Auckland "A" logo. Although widely ignored, the "A" now seems a relative snip at $20,000.
In August, the council agency was under fire for sending two staff to observe the Rio Olympics.
It has started the Goff era with a tighter fist, however, refusing to subsidise Joseph Parker's world title fight.
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Auckland bureaucrats 'out-of-control' with $500K new slogan
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