Māori wards will form part of this review, but are not mandatory and can be voted on by the council.
Of the country's 67 councils, 34 will have Māori wards or constituencies in the upcoming election on October 8.
Tauranga City Council had its review this year and adopted a Māori ward for the first time, but won't have an election until 2024 when the government-appointed commissioners' term ends.
When Western Bay of Plenty candidates were asked if Māori wards were an effective way to increase Māori participation, both as candidates and as voters, five of the seven respondents (71 per cent) said yes.
This compares to close to half (48.5 per cent) nationally saying yes, with a quarter unsure (26.2 per cent) and just 25.2 per cent rejecting the proposition outright.
Unlike a large portion of candidates nationally, none of the Western Bay candidates mentioned Te Tiriti O Waitangi [Treaty of Waitangi] in their reasons.
Nationally, honouring Te Tiriti and the promise of partnership or pātuitanga was one of the main reasons for supporting Māori wards.
The most definitive reason in support came from current deputy mayor John Scrimgeour: "There would definitely be an increased interest and participation from voters registered on the Māori roll and as a consequence more candidates of Māori descent".
Don Thwaites and Rodney Joyce said the wards were working at a regional council and central government level so they supported them in local government.
Current Kaimai Ward councillor Thwaites said: "A huge amount of those identifying as Māori are enrolled on the general roll and take an active part in nationwide and local politics.
"The absolute key is that each voter has one vote, and each ward established, is proportional to numbers enrolled."
Joyce's reason was: "It is likely the government will mandate these everywhere so we need to stop fighting an unwinnable fight.
"Both parliament and regional council have Māori seats and the world has not fallen apart.
''WBOP has a good record of Māori councillors but less so in terms of local iwi representation," the Katikati business owner said.
The Bay of Plenty Regional Council was the first local authority to establish Māori wards back in 2004.
Current Katikati-Waihī Beach Ward councillor James Denyer responded yes, but also wanted to consider "other solutions" alongside the representation review.
"It would be important for me to hear the views of the community and iwi/Māori to understand their preferred solutions."
Terry 'Hori BOP' Leaming agreed they were effective but did not provide a reason why.
Maketu local Paul Haimona (Ngati Whakaue, Ngāti Makino, Ngati Pikiao) said no and his reason was: "If they were effective, we would not be asking this question".
The other Western Bay candidate to answer no was Te Puke businessman Mark Boyle.
He said: "We must encourage all eligible voters to exercise their vote in local government elections.
"Māori participation through [voting] is democratic. Engagement with Māori can be improved through formal iwi, hapu, business and community forums."
There are eight contenders in the Western Bay mayoral race, with Suaree Borell not responding to the survey.
It was sent out to all 291 mayoral candidates and garnered 202 responses, representing a 69 per cent response rate.
- Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air.
