The Dunedin City Council is moving to spell out the expectations it has from its companies for the first time.
But the move has already been dismissed as window-dressing by Cr Lee Vandervis, prompting a debate at yesterday's full council meeting.
The letter was to become an annual initiative, setting out the council's expectations from its companies, which they would be expected to respond to through their annual statements of intent.
Councillors at yesterday's meeting approved the first of the letters, but not before Cr Vandervis dismissed the initiative as a "feel-good document''.
The document had "no teeth'' or legal force behind it, and the council's only power to enforce its will was to replace Dunedin City Holdings Ltd's directors, he said.
Cr Jinty MacTavish was pleased by the initiative, which had been discussed for years.
It would send a strong signal the council intended to work more strategically with its companies to deliver better results for the city, she said.
"For me, this is really exciting. It's enhancing the work we can do as a collective to deliver outcomes,'' she said.
Dunedin Mayor Dave Cull also supported the initiative, which would for the first time tell companies specifically what the council expected - avoiding the need for the companies to read councillors' minds.
