WELLINGTON COUNCIL PAYS CONSULTANTS $90K TO LOCATE THE CONSULTANTS
The consultants were, it turns out, on level four of the building the invoice came from.
Wellington City Council has paid an outside firm $90,000 to work out where its existing consultants physically sit. One staffer called it "the stupidest thing I've seen, and I worked on the Island Bay cycleway".
The scoping job went to a Lambton Quay outfit nobody can pronounce. It ran for eleven weeks. The final report is 47 pages. It concludes the consultants are mostly on level four, with two in Transport on level six, and one who hasn't been seen since June but is still invoicing.
Newtown ratepayer Hemi Kupa, 54, found out from his neighbour, who works in procurement. "Came home pissed off and stayed pissed off," Kupa said. "Ninety grand. To find blokes at desks. The desks have name plates. The name plates have names. It's not a manhunt."
A comms staffer, who asked to be called "Megan because that's not my name", said the project was costed at $40k. It blew out after the consultants hired a sub-consultant to find a consultant who works from home on Fridays. "He was in Days Bay. We knew he was in Days Bay. He posts about Days Bay on LinkedIn!"
A council spokesperson said the work delivered "valuable spatial clarity around our advisory workforce footprint" and would inform a forthcoming review. The scope of that review is being drafted by consultants. Asked if those consultants had been located, the spokesperson said they'd come back to us.
The original consultants, now formally located, have been engaged on follow-up work to determine what they do. That contract is valued at $140,000.
The scoping job went to a Lambton Quay outfit nobody can pronounce. It ran for eleven weeks. The final report is 47 pages. It concludes the consultants are mostly on level four, with two in Transport on level six, and one who hasn't been seen since June but is still invoicing.
Newtown ratepayer Hemi Kupa, 54, found out from his neighbour, who works in procurement. "Came home pissed off and stayed pissed off," Kupa said. "Ninety grand. To find blokes at desks. The desks have name plates. The name plates have names. It's not a manhunt."
A comms staffer, who asked to be called "Megan because that's not my name", said the project was costed at $40k. It blew out after the consultants hired a sub-consultant to find a consultant who works from home on Fridays. "He was in Days Bay. We knew he was in Days Bay. He posts about Days Bay on LinkedIn!"
A council spokesperson said the work delivered "valuable spatial clarity around our advisory workforce footprint" and would inform a forthcoming review. The scope of that review is being drafted by consultants. Asked if those consultants had been located, the spokesperson said they'd come back to us.
The original consultants, now formally located, have been engaged on follow-up work to determine what they do. That contract is valued at $140,000.