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More than 1000 protesters call for change in the Christchurch Council - Source: ONE News -
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Christchurch councillors say they have heard the anger of ratepayers but do not believe mid-term elections are necessary.
Up to 3000 people frustrated by the leadership of the city council joined a protest today calling for chief executive Tony Marryatt to be sacked and Mayor Bob Parker to stand down.
Their anger stemmed from a $68,000 pay rise Marryatt was offered and subsequently turned down.
"I'm annoyed. I don't understand how one person can get a pay rise that is so epic," a protester told ONE News.
"I think people are feeling excluded," said another. "The secrecy that's going on. It's just not on."
Organiser of the No Payrise protest group, Peter Lynch, led calls for the fresh elections.
"I believe the outrage that has brought us here today is in fact the tipping point, the tipping point in which we begin to regain our democracy," he said as the crowd cheered.
Neither the Mayor nor Marryatt were at the protest today and a council spokeswoman says the chief executive doesn't want to comment.
However, the councillors who did turn up said they don't believe another election is the answer.
"I'm not actually sure it would solve the problems people are raising," Yani Johanson said.
And Aaron Keown said if they have an election they will lose three months of the rebuild.
Overwhelming turnout
The planned protest kicked off at midday and police cordoned off a street to contain the numbers.
ONE News reporter Abby Scott tweeted that there was a lot of anger and passionate people, with some threatening a rates revolt.
The No Pay Rise For Tony Marryatt Facebook page, which 1,458 have liked, earlier rallied Christchurch residents to join in.
"This is your one chance to make Prime Minister John Key, Dr Nick Smith and Gerry Brownlee wake up and listen to the good people of Christchurch.
"We will not allow our city to descend further into chaos. We must reclaim our democracy."
Marryatt was given a 14% increase last December, lifting his salary by $68,000 to $538,529. After weeks of public criticism, he announced last week that he had asked the council to stop paying him the increase.
But Lynch told TV ONE's Breakfast this morning the demonstration would go ahead to force major changes.
"We want Marryatt to go, we want Bob Parker to go and we want fresh elections."
Lynch said the general "dysfunctionality" of Christchurch City Council means the people of the city "just can't wait any longer".
"There's too much inappropriate expenditure going in that council there as we speak and therefore we feel we need to get up and protest today and force the New Zealand Government to consider an early election."
Lynch said Marryatt "hasn't been a chief executive of the people" and that he runs "an autocratic dictatorship".
"It's just his overall attitude to the ratepayers of Christchurch that's making them more and more incensed."
Lynch said the protest group is also angry about Marryatt's decision to hold on to more than $34,000 of the pay increase until councillors could "work together collegially".
He wants an investigation by Internal Affairs and the Auditor-General into the "significant discrepancies" between Marryatt's reported performance and his pay increase.
Council documents obtained under the Official Information Act show Marryatt's performance reviews have gradually declined since 2009.
His overall performance, excluding self-assessment, decreased from 4.3 out of 5 in 2009 to 3.9 in 2011.
Support from mayor
Parker has defended the pay rise and said earlier in the week Marryatt had been given "a very strong rating".
"It's still a very good response, in the top 20% overall."
He said Marryatt had been given high ratings by staff who worked closely with him during the earthquake response, while low ratings from some councillors were part of a "natural spread".
It was announced last week a Crown observer will now be helping to run the council following a meeting with Local Government Minister Nick Smith.
But Lynch says this action is merely a "band-aid over a cut
that'll never heal".
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