WAITAKERE, SHORE COUNCILS URGE STRONGER LOCAL BODIES FOR AUCKLAND

Auckland City looks set to toe the Government line and go against the tide of other councils in the region in its submission to Parliament's select committee on local government changes, The Aucklander reports today. The full council will meet tonight and is expect to rubber-stamp its regional governance committee's suggestions. North Shore and Waitakere city councils want the regional mayor's powers reduced; a wider brief, legal protection and financial authority for local or community councils, and no councillors to be elected at-large (i.e. from across the region). Manukau City Council is to finalise its submission tonight (June 26). It has also signalled its unhappiness with the at-large councillors, the local boards' role, Maori representation and the future ownership of water services. According to Auckland City Councillor Aaron Bhatnagar, on his website today, John Banks' Citizens & Ratepayers-dominated grouping has signed off on submissions that all but parrot the Government's plan.
A maximum of 21 wards for locally elected councillors A minimum of eight at-large elected councillors A Mayor able to appoint their own deputy and major committee chairs The Mayor determining the high-level vision for the city Around 20-30 local boards, with the Local Government Commission determining the exact number based on communities of interest Local boards to have an appropriate budget No specially elected Maori seats, but acknowledgment of a Mana Whenua advisory role Ward boundaries be flexible to deal with population changes, but local boards relatively fixed to follow communities of interest. The regional governance committee, which is loaded with C&R; members, rejected the single transferable voting system and renaming local boards as local councils, with increased powers. North Shore and Waitakere support both those ideas. It also turned down the suggestion of Maori seats, the deputy mayor being appointed by the council and widening the number of local boards to 15-35.
North Shore and Waitakere city councils today sent detailed submissions on how Auckland's new single council should be elected and the powers of its local councils to Parliament's select committee on the region's local government. Both councils favour all 20 members of the region-wide Auckland Council being elected from wards, or electoral districts. They do not want members elected at-large (i.e., to represent the entire region). Waitakere proposes six wards for the election of 20 Auckland Councillors. Each ward's number of councillors would be determined on a population basis. North Shore would also like 20 councillors but proposes electing one representative from each of 20 wards. The boundaries of these wards would parallel 20 local or community councils across the region. Both councils favour the single transferable vote system for the Mayor, all Auckland Council and local board members. Waitakere suggests a four-year term instead of the current three years. North Shore wants the Mayor's powers reduced. Waitakere supports Maori representation on the Auckland Council but turns the question of the method and level over to the Government. North Shore bounces the whole matter back to the Government. Both councils urge the committee to increase the powers of the proposed local boards. Both suggest renaming them as "Community Councils" and giving them legal powers to make decisions on local issues. Waitakere favours 12-20 Community Councils. North Shore suggests 20, and adds that there should be a legal requirement that all roading, water/wastewater and other community assets remain in public ownership. Waitakere Mayor Bob Harvey says the West council does not oppose the concept of re-organisation in Auckland. "The region faces massive problems and challenges, particularly in the areas of public transport, regional planning and so on," he says. "But there is a real risk that the Government throws the baby out with the bathwater and simply takes away the power of local communities to determine what is important to them." Waitakere's submission states: "The [Auckland Council] Bill does not match the innovation of the bold move to a one City-Region and thus runs the risk of not delivering the gains that purportedly drive this reform. "Basically if local boards are not given sufficient powers and functions to deliver locally then the Auckland Council will get bogged down and will not be able to concentrate on the major regional issues. "Local boards must be able to make real decisions in consultation with their communities, not just follow prescribed orders." Waitakere's deputy mayor, Penny Hulse, points to recent independent polls which show the majority of Aucklanders are against to the Government's plans. "We can only hope that the select committee genuinely listens to the logic of the arguments we are putting forward and also takes account of the huge weight of public opinion that is against these proposals," she says. She says the submission looks closely at the purpose of the proposed Community Councils (Local Boards). "If the Government gets that wrong and effectively neuters local democracy, then Auckland will go backwards." North Shore Mayor Andrew says his council feels its submission fairly reflects concerns repeatedly raised its community, and offers a series of realistic and practical recommendations. Mayor Williams said that the proposed "20 councillors, 20 wards and 20 Community Councils" structure would provide an elegant solution to the difficult issue of protecting local representation and genuine community engagement at every level. "Under this structure, each and every councillor would be a strong representative of their community, and be held directly accountable to the people who elected them." "Each councillor would have responsibility for their respective Community Council (Local Board) which would, in turn, be responsible for the decisions about and delivery of local services at the local level." Mr Williams said his council is concerned that the current Bill allows for too much power to sit with one person - the Mayor of the new Auckland Council. "While we accept that the Mayor will sometimes have to make hard decisions and needs the powers to do that, we have proposed a more democratic process for choosing committee chairs and for the preparation of long-term council plans," he said. This level of detail was needed because under the Bill there is the potential for a severe imbalance of power between the Auckland Council and the Community Councils (Local Boards). "We must do everything we can to ensure that the Community Councils are more than just advocates for their constituents. They need to be well resourced, bulk funded, with real decision-making powers, and they need to be taken seriously by the Auckland Council. "This can be achieved by a combination of clearly defined roles and powers, and aligning the Mayoralty, the ward-elected councillor and the Community Council to provide seamless decision making at local and regional level." Mr Williams said his council shares the deep concern of the North Shore community regarding the future ownership of Watercare and roading infrastructure, in particular. "Local Government Minister Rodney Hide has said publicly that if it was his decision, he would sell Watercare to private enterprise. Our council and our community is sending a strong message in the submission that these assets must remain in public ownership in perpetuity, and be protected from sale in law." Submissions to the Local Government (Auckland Council) Bill close on Friday 26 June. The Government has warned that late submissions will not be considered, and that informal emails will not be accepted as submissions. Single transferable vote (STV) is a system of preferential voting designed to minimise "wasted" votes while ensuring that votes are explicitly expressed for individual candidates. STV initially allocates an elector's vote to his or her most preferred candidate and then, after candidates have been either elected or eliminated, transfers surplus or unused votes according to the voters' stated preferences. 25 06 2009