On being a councillor

Since my inauguration in 2003, I have been asked by many people, “What is it like, being a councillor?” Recently, a couple of people have e-mailed me, asking me to sum up what exactly a councillor does. These are really two different questions but as so many people have asked them in the same conversation, I will endeavour to answer both here.

The Palmerston North City Council consists of a Mayor and 15 Councillors. These positions are subject to election every three years. Occasionally, a Councillor resigns and a by-election takes place to fill the vacancy. The by-election is only held in the ward in which the vacancy occurs; it is not a city-wide election. This is how I was elected part way through the 2001-2004 term of council, in December, 2002. The next election date is 9 October 2004.

Once the Mayor and Councillors are confirmed by election they go through inauguration. They cannot take office until this has been done and they have signed a declaration stating:
I, (name), declare that I will faithfully and impartially, and according to the best of my skill and judgement, execute and perform, in the best interests of Palmerston North City, the powers, authorities, and duties vested in or imposed upon me as Mayor (or as a member) of the Palmerston North City Council by virtue of the Local Government Act 2002, the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987, or any other Act.

The inauguration is held as soon as possible after an election so the business of council can continue smoothly. In my case, I was elected on 20th December, 2002 and inaugurated on 3rd February, 2003.
Right, so now a Councillor has taken office - what next?

As committee membership and many of the other decisions Councillors make at the beginning of a term had been made before I was elected (such as, who would attend local body conferences, who would represent council on various outside organisations) I was effectively “slotted in” to the positions held by the previous incumbent.
Okay, so I have been given my portfolio and I now know what committees I am on. I attend meetings. Is that it? Not by a long way!

A City Councillor’s role is governance, not management. Collectively, we are responsible for setting policies and procedures, for determining the range of services and activities to be provided, and monitoring these. We employ the CEO and we delegate the implementation of our decisions to him.
Meetings do take up a lot of time, however these are just a small part of the work that goes on. During the 2003-2004 financial year, a total of approximately 160 ordinary, extraordinary or adjourned meetings were held. Adjourned meetings were those meetings which were held over two or more separate days.
Prior to decisions being made at meetings there are briefings, workshops and presentations and a continual process of education and upskilling.
Councillors must keep an open mind on all issues and must ensure they are as informed as possible about every aspect of every item which comes up for discussion. This means not only reading and understanding all reports, but also taking into account the social, cultural, financial and other implications of each decision and how they relate to the plans, policies and strategic direction of council.

Many people do not recognise just how big the city council actually is, or how much it impacts on our lives. Palmerston North City Council owns, on your behalf, assets valued at over $1 BILLION. We often see in the newspaper the debates over issues like the Senior Citizens Club carparking, with figures of less than $20,000, so it is easy to think of council as dealing with small sums of money. The $5,000 here, or $100,000 there, which are regularly discussed in the paper tend to make us forget that when Councillors are preparing the budgets we are dealing with tens of millions of dollars of your money.
This is big business and a huge responsibility.

As a Council, we work within a legislative framework set out by central government and as elected members we are also governed by laws and regulations and must know these laws well.

Council also provides services through collaboration with other agencies and by funding or contracting community organisations. Councillors interact regularly with these organisations and attend meetings, presentations etc. for a large number of external agencies.

One thing I have really come to appreciate since my election is that the skills we need our Councillors to have are perhaps not given sufficient weight when we come to voting. The person with a lot of community involvement, or the one with the best personality, may not be the person you want dealing with budgets and finances, or deciding on strategic direction for the next ten years. As central government has pushed local government into more of a corporate model the expertise of Councillors has come under the spotlight. Starting later this year, formal tertiary training for Councillors will be undertaken through Local Government NZ. Councillors involved in the Resource Management processes are likely to have to undergo training and accreditation.
But, that study and training is coming. What else does a Councillor do now?

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