Mickey is not amuse(um)ed

While to the best of our knowledge no one has yet lost their hand at the wrist for opposing Mickey (though several of his more enamoured supporters are rumoured to have somehow damaged their wrists whilst demonstrating the depths of their affection), Michael Laws's is clearly a regime which brooks no dissent whatsoever.

Latest people to come in for a Mayoral bombing run are the trustees of the Whanganui Museum. They wouldn't have been on Mickey's Christmas card list after steadfastly insisting back in February that they would keep the "Whanganui" in their name despite its defeat as the name of the town itself.

In a hint of the trouble to come, Museum Director Sharon Dell pointed out then that the museum is an independent charitable trust and has been since 1895, and that "iwi are an integral part of our governance".

The background, for those interested, is explained in a learned dissertation (1.07Mb pdf file) from Massey University. It's a widely well-regarded model for stewardship of a community asset, which is precisely why people have written crushingly long academic papers about it.

But for those who don't have the time, the crucial point to remember in order to understand our somewhat less-learned dissertation is that the trust is founded on the premise of joint Maori-Pakeha governance, and that it has a strong trust deed which cements it as an entity separate from council control.

This is why Mickey hasn't been able to run amok the way he did with the Sarjeant Trust Board, eventually gutting it completely. An independent entity, outside the micro management of the Mayor. Clearly an anathema to Michael Laws, who's been hankering for a chance to bring this unruly bunch to heel.

Enter Sharon Dell, whom Dr Warburton named last year as second in command to Sally Patrick. But hold on... Dell is employed by the Trust, the Trust is independent... so from whence does Dr Warburton (read: Mickey) think he derives the authority to effectively poach their staff?

After spending months trying to get somewhere with Warburton, a QC's letter was sent to him recently supporting the view that the Trust is the employer and the council can't just yank Sharon out from under their noses.

What's this? A dissenter in the ranks, challenging the Mayor's Meisterplan?! Suddenly Mickey Mayor's on his high horse and the Museum get a reply threatening to stop continuity of council funding. The total for 06/07 is $1.041 million including $768,000 operating costs and $117,000 council overhead, so such a threat spells real problems for the Museum.

It would, in effect, leave them to take their chances each year with funding applications. And the outcome of such applications is by no means certain, as the LTCCP tells us:

Regional Museum
The Council owns the Museum buildings and is responsible for employing staff on behalf of the Whanganui Regional Museum Trust. Museum services include collection development and maintenance, exhibition and visitor services, education programmes and research and advisory services.
Financial:
Wanganui District Council provides approximately 60 to 65% of the required funding. Some ordinary operational activities such as collection documentation and preservation, are supported by external grants and donations. If these grants and donations are not obtained, programmes may need to be reduced or cut. A lack of success in gaining grants will affect the Museum's ability to engage with the visitor industry, produce marketing collateral or be represented in generic marketing of the region. Success in funding applications depends on the confidence of local and national funding bodies in the institution and in some instances its charitable status.

So even without the Mayor's threat, the Museum is dependent on grants to fund around 40 percent of its activities - notably those which contribute to marketing the region, thus bringing tourism dollars to Wanganui. Having to divert these funds to make up any shortfall occasioned by Mickey's pique will therefore likely have impacts outside of those felt by the Museum itself.

Yet another community asset, founded in 1892 and housing objects of both national and international significance, and presided over without incident by a joint governance structure since 1992, is under threat - for no other reason than it has tried to assert its independence from Michael Laws. An independence that is guaranteed in its Trust Deed.

Nervous Museum Trustees are speaking to their LTCCP submission on Monday morning. We're sure they'd appreciate a show of community support, before and during. And we wish them luck in preserving an invaluable storehouse of knowledge and tikanga.

But aside from the fate of the Museum, there are other issues at stake here. Like, what's the Mayor doing in the middle of another staffing matter? And why, since he's clearly nothing more than Mickey's straw man, does Dr Warburton not find alternative employment more suited to his attributes? There must be a field somewhere that needs guarding.

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