Cr Benedict Ong told the Otago Daily Times of his aspirations to chair a proposed capital funding committee.
However, Mayor Sophie Barker has poured cold water on the pitch, saying Cr Ong had not directly approached her about the matter and it was "a stretch" for a first-term councillor such as him to chair a committee.
In reply to ODT questions on a related matter, Cr Ong said he volunteered to be deputy chair of the council’s finance and performance committee — left empty after Cr Lee Vandervis declined the role — but it was not available to him.
Instead, he proposed that Ms Barker establish a capital funding committee which he would chair.
"The capital funding committee would oversee specifically our financing sources for council and also the community grants and community services we support," Cr Ong said.
It included "debt funding for council debt" and public and private capital options for community grants.
"If, at council, we are able to facilitate our community services and grants with private funding outside of council, it would be very good for our community indeed."
During the election campaign, Cr Ong widely touted his "rate rise freeze", citing global banking and financial experience.
An international network of potential debt buyers — "global institutional investors, philanthropists and foundations" — was key to this, he said.
He hoped for broad support for the proposal from other councillors and said there had been many changes to governance "occurring fluidly".
Crs Vandervis and Andrew Simms both declined deputy portfolio roles last month, but later accepted Ms Barker’s offers of elevated roles, including a new portfolio for Cr Vandervis.
Ms Barker said that apart from being included into Cr Ong’s reply to the ODT’s questions, she had not been approached directly by him about forming a new committee.
"Being [copied] into a media response would not seem an appropriate pathway for a discussion with the mayor about governance responsibilities," Ms Barker said.
As a first-term councillor with no council experience, it was "a stretch" to expect a new committee be created for him to chair.
Before being considered for such roles, councillors needed to be deeply familiar with council process and standing orders, attend the induction training and demonstrate their experience and abilities to the mayor and councillors, she said.
Ms Barker said she planned to keep the number of committees small and the finance and performance committee covered finance matters.
Remaining committee delegations would go to the council early next year and her portfolio-based governance system would be reviewed in a year.
