Sandwichgate

A resounding - and meticulously researched - rebuttal of Horizons part-timer Leonie Brookhammer's charges of "corporate gluttony" amongst lunching councillors in yesterday's Chron. Clearly, whilst learning at the Diva's knee she wasn't paying attention when he got to rule number two (rule number one being - grandstand about the little things and they'll overlook the big ones): Never get between a journo and their free lunch. For the humble reporters sent to attend long and droning council meetings, the smell of reheated sausage rolls is not just a much-yearned-for reward but a form of mental aphrodisiac.

"No evidence of corporate gluttony or anything that could even remotely be described in those terms", the Chron concluded. And with a quoted budget of $3 to $5 a head, extravagance and gluttony aren't words that spring to mind - unless you're seeking a cheap headline, that is. But then, boxed at the bottom of the main story, were the total annual expenditures of each Council, with Wanganui's coming in at $8,000. Divided by 13 councillors, that's $615 worth of nosh each year.

Since Wanganui's councillors are actually pretty good at showing up to meetings (unlike the critical Ms Brookhammer) if the assumption was made that most of them turned up all the time, that still comes out at well over $5 a head - maybe as much as three times that figure. Oops.

Cue the Diva in a rant this morning, saying it wasn't true, and blaming none other than monetary wunderkind Julian Harkness for the alleged stuff-up:

The Chronicle was given the figure by the council's own finance chief, Julian Harkness. But Mr Laws said that, for the year since he was elected, the total for councillors' catering costs was $1262.85. He said that figure had been provided to his office by elected representatives officer Malcolm Hunt.

In a touching chorus of marital solidarity, he echoes Ms Brookhammer, sniffily concluding:

"We are not profligate gorgers like Horizons – that seems a particular regional council folly".

So it looks like Harkness's reign as the Diva's favourite could be coming to a quick and sticky end. Harkness has come in for lavish Mayoral praise at every Admin and Finance meeting, primarily so the Diva can point out ever-so subtly (not) how very clever he is compared to his predecessor Dave Foster.

But now it seems the man charged with CFO-ing the multimillion dollar business of WDC and finding the dough for the mayoral diktats cant even count up the bill for a few sandwiches and savouries. He's definitely going to be stripped of his lunch monitor badge. The question must be whether he can keep his prefect's job.

Millions of dollars can be borrowed for Mayoral pet projects, hundreds of thousands siphoned off to be divvied up behind the closed doors of Wanganui Inc., and the best investigative piece in the Chron all year is about the cost of caramel slices. With the newsroom doggedly in pursuit of this breaking story, can it be long before we hear of late night break-ins at the local cake shop, secretly taped Mayoral meetings over sandwich fillings ("What was in the missing 18 minutes? Did the Diva really say they could dispense with the dolphin safe tuna and order the driftnet variety?") and surely, eventually, impeachment.

And while Wanganui wrestles with the horror of Sandwichgate, elsewhere in the world municipalities face equally testing scandals. A journalist acquaintance of some Watchers received an email from a reader presently working in Africa:

"You should come over here, journos are spoilt for choice.The former deputy president just got charged with rape. Last month it was corruption charges for the same good ole boy, who had to be fired after refusing to resign. The CEO of theTourism Board awarded himself a nice juicy tender, and four councillors here just copped a murder rap for disposing of the mayor. It doesn’t get any better than that, you won’t be bored."

Yes, but where are the really meaty sandwich stories?

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