Tauranga City Council may be replaced with a commission - but what is that?

John Robertson was the chairman of the Kaipara District Council commissioners. Photo / Supplied

The Minister of Local Government has announced her intention to replace Tauranga City Council's elected representatives with a commission - but what exactly is that?

It is a rare move, so there aren't a lot of examples to draw from. There have been just three commissions since a ministerial review provision was added to the Local Government Act in 1992: Rodney District Council in 2000, Environment Canterbury in 2010 and Kaipara District Council in 2012.

Under section 258F the Act, updated in 2012, a commission performs the full functions, duties and powers of the mayor and councillors, including setting - and spending - the rates.

It operates under terms of reference set by the Government, which can limit its authority.

The minister's draft terms for Tauranga included working out how to engage with the community and other stakeholders to rebuild confidence and trust in the council; delivering a "robust and fit for purpose" long-term plan, and working with other authorities on transport and urban planning.

Minister of Local Government Nanaia Mahuta. Photo / File

There is no set number for commissioners - Rodney had one, Kaipara four and Canterbury seven. Groups must have a chairperson.

Commissioners have tended to be people with strong public and/or private sector governance experience. Professional skills and experience relevant to the council's particular challenges can also be a factor, as could a strong connection to the community.

On past examples, however, they would not necessarily have to come from or be based in Tauranga.

It might be seen as beneficial to bring in independent people who do not have local political or pecuniary ties.

As for the elected members, according to the Act, they stop being paid and can't act in their roles, but they do remain in office and can be brought back by the commission to sit on council committees and be paid in that capacity.

Commissioners are paid and can be reimbursed for reasonable expenses. According to the Act, the council "owes as a debt to the Crown any expenses that the Crown incurs for the appointment" of a commission.

Commissioners are directed not to diminish the organisational capacity of the local authority - they can't run it down.

The minister has to give a start and end date for the commission but can extend it. She can also postpone a council election.

John Robertson when he was appointed chairman of the Kaipara District Council commissioners. Photo / File

Former commissioner: 'We held council meetings'

Accountant and former MP John Robertson was the chairman of the Kaipara commissioners and is the mayor of Waitomo.

He said the commissioners operated, in a practical sense, in much the same way as the elected members had, except they were appointed not elected.

"We held council meetings. All the laws, all the rules and regulations that regulate, govern or legislate around councils are exactly the same. Information requests, everything goes on as normal."

Residents could come to them with concerns, and the commissioners consulted the community on decisions, he said.

He said a commission-run long-term plan process would still have the same consultation requirements as one governed by elected members.

"Let's say in Tauranga there are probably issues around where rates land and so on. All that will be consulted as if the council was operating under elected members."

In his view commissioners, being unelected, should "go the extra mile" to ensure local government matters were handled as democratically as possible.

One of the first things he did after his appointment was meet with a big ratepayers' association, he said.

He said the commissioners made decisions by vote and did not always agree but the decision-making process "felt very efficient".

Robertson said commissioners work for residents. On the relationship with central Government, he said he wrote a report every quarter and met the minister a couple of times a year.

He found the ministers and Government did not interfere with the commissioners or attempt to direct them, but provided professional support when asked.

'Modest' governance

Massey University local body governance expert Andy Asquith said there was a "huge difference" between Kaipara and Tauranga, particularly given the strategic importance of Tauranga.

He said the commissioners in Kaipara "stabilised" the council and sorted out its legal and financial issues, but an unstable period followed when they left.

Andy Asquith, Massey University. Photo / File

The mayor resigned after a year and the council also had a few chief executives in quick succession.

Asquith said the council settled after the election of current mayor Dr Jason Smith in a by-election in 2018, and the appointment of a new chief executive in 2018 - Louise Miller, ex-Tauranga City Council.

He believed the point of a commission was to give a council and a city time to "think and reflect".

Dr Dean Knight, a specialist in public and government law at Victoria University, said the goal of a commission was to "make it good... and not make it worse".

He said the best way to achieve that was to set the environment for elections again.

Dean Knight, a specialist in public and government law at Victoria University. Photo / File

This could solve issues that arise from dynamics between elected members, but there were no guarantees.

"The hope is the commissioners are modest in their governance in the sense that they are keeping the organisation ticking over, restoring its healthiness and addressing the problems that have caused dysfunction in the past."

He said he would not expect commissioners to make radical or community-shaping policy changes because they were appointed, not elected.

"Those things are best done through democratic processes."