EDITORIAL: Council's cards too close to its chest | Manawatu-Wanganui News | Local News in Manawatu-Wanganui

WHAT'S going on in Guyton St, inside city hall?

That's a question a whole lot of people would like the answer to, especially if they are ratepayers of the Wanganui District Council.

It's the question most frequently asked by people who telephone the Chronicle's newsdesk with "story ideas" , allegations, accusations or plain old gripes relating to the council and its activities, that they believe this newspaper should "investigate".

The Chronicle also receives a steady stream of letters, for its Opinion page, from correspondents challenging council policies and decisions while criticising this newspaper for its apparent lack of interest in district council matters and failing to properly examine (and report on) those policies and decisions.

We agree, that is precisely what the Chronicle should be doing, albeit that our news team these days is somewhat smaller than it used to be.

However, the problem is not made within the Chronicle. It is the direct result of the district council's cone-of-silence policy in dealing with "the media".

Under this policy, the council's staff, from the chief executive down to the cleaner, are banned from talking to the Chronicle's reporters about anything and everything and even the elected members of the Wanganui District Council are firmly discouraged by the mayor from talking to the media.

Mayor Michael Laws has designated himself the sole purveyor of council "news" on every subject from the number of dogs currently in the local pound to the size and cause of the council's considerable debt. Even simple stories that would show Wanganui in a positive light can only be written with the Mayor's approval and input.

Is that a problem? Yes, if the Chronicle is going to serve its readers in the way they want us to - with straight, factually accurate answers to some very basic questions on what council is doing and why.

But all too often the responses, carefully crafted by Mr Laws and his "communications" staff, do not answer the questions. The responses come back as press releases which are, more often than not, only a mayoral opinion - long on rhetoric, short on information.

Arguably, the council's media policy has some purpose in preventing reporters from bugging council officers with frivolous requests for information. And we have probably been guilty of that from time to time.

So, what's going on inside city hall? Ask yourself.