Dame Susan Devoy and Sir Paul Adams watched the council meeting from the public gallery. Photo / George Novak
Dame Susan Devoy and Sir Paul Adams watched the council meeting from the public gallery. Photo / George Novak
Watching from the wings as the Tauranga City Council met in an attempt to pull its act together today were two of the city's highest-profile figures: Sir Paul Adams and Dame Susan Devoy.
In the middle of the full 1m-spaced public gallery was Devoy, former squash champ, race relationshipscommissioner and, briefly, candidate for mayor of Tauranga.
She said she was looking for signs of a genuine willingness to move forward from the council, but also contemplating what might have been.
In the front row of the gallery, in a clutch of business leaders, was Adams, developer and philanthropist knighted last year.
He was looking for the council to make the necessary "fresh start" after recent "nonsense", and showing his support for mayor Tenby Powell.
Sir Paul Adams takes a front-row seat for the meeting. Photo / George Novak
Adams likened the council's behaviour of late to "kids at the playground" and urged councillors to respect the mayor and "his mandate".
Adams said in his opinion: "The elected members must respect the mayor and the plan he was elected to implement by a huge majority of ratepayers of Tauranga.
"Several elected members have chosen to promote themselves and their views rather than those of a majority of ratepayers and the business community."
In the meeting, Powell was accused by some councillors of aggressive behaviour, yelling and swearing towards other members. Powell said he had not been good at "ignoring provocation", but would focus on this and do his best to be "more inclusive, and polite".
Adams, when asked if he would accept the behaviour Powell was accused of in his boardroom, said Powell came from a military background and that was not always helpful in a civic governance role.
"He is aware of that and his undertaking today was that he would review [it].
Tauranga mayor Tenby Powell chairs the meeting. Photo / George Novak
"All councillors are leaders in their own right and they have to have respect to work on behalf of the ratepayers and not push back against the mayor and the plan he was mandated to implement."
As a leader, he said, if faced with swearing or yelling, he would deal with that appropriately.
"There is a time and a place to have words in a boardroom or out of it and then everyone has to get on with the job."
Businesses enduring an economic downturn did not want to see the council "fighting petty battles whilst self-promoting at the expense of our city", he said.
In his view: "At the heart of the matter is a lack of respect for the ratepayers and the business community.
"The mayor was elected with a huge majority to implement his plan for growth and the elected members have no right to try and seek his resignation or push back on the plan he is mandated to implement," he said.
Devoy briefly threw her hat in the ring for the mayoral race early in last year's election run-up, but withdrew for family reasons within a month.
She joked after the meeting the notion must have come from a "rush of blood to the head" and that it appeared she had "escaped a fate worse than death".
Dame Susan Devoy watches the meeting from the public gallery. Photo / George Novak
Devoy said she found the council's situation "disappointing" but if all councillors were true to their words in the meeting it might be able to move forward.
"I didn't come in support of anyone in particular. I wanted to see whether there was a genuine appetite for change.
"They are paid by the ratepayers who elected these people to serve our city.
"Virtually all - but not all of them - need to own their behaviour and sort it out."
She said a lot of people in the city were struggling, and would not be happy to "see in the paper every day the behaviour of the people they elected".
She was not considering another run at the mayoralty but was still interested in the council and said she "might be able to find another way to add value".
"I don't know how I would have managed that herd of cats."
At the same time, she said she had respect for elected members.
She said no public role was easy, and they were not the first to talk about a "toxic environment" in politics, whether local or central.
"But they are paid to do it."
What makes a mandate?
These are the mayoral vote tallies for the top five (out of 10) polling candidates in the 2019 elections. The election was held via single-transferable vote.
Tenby Powell: 17,299 Greg Brownless: 12,400 Kelvin Clout: 8635 Andrew Hollis: 5715 John Robson: 3474
