Stuart Nash
It was with a sense of optimism that I learned of James Palmer's appointment to one of the most important roles in the region: that of chief executive of the Hawke's Bay Regional Council.
James comes with an extremely good reputation gained in both Wellington and during his brief time at the HBRC, and takes over at a critical juncture in the council's history.
At all my street corner meetings over the past 18 months, a number of the issues that people tell me are of importance to them are actually those under control of the HBRC: any potential sale of the Napier Port; water bottling, consenting and quality; the dreadful state of Lake Tutira; the debacle that the dam has turned into; the sale of the income from the Napier residential leasehold portfolio; the flirtation with fracking; lawsuits and counter-suits between the HBRC and the Hastings District Council; and, to a lesser extent, the fisheries management in Hawke Bay.
All this erodes the council's social licence to operate and certainly has a number of ratepayers questioning how our annual contributions are spent; especially when we learn that $20m of our money has been poured into the dam project and not a sod has been turned, and yet a number of the council's core areas of responsibility certainly appear, on the surface at least, to have been neglected.
My experience is that there are some incredibly competent and passionate employees at the council, who do an amazing job under rather trying circumstances.
We have experts in many areas who have innovative solutions and plans on how the council can actually meet its legislative requirements around maintaining and enhancing water, air and environmental quality, but the narrow financial commitment and focus on the dam over the past few years has meant that a level of public frustration has crept in regarding the council's inability to address a number of other key issues.
As I see it, James faces two initial challenges as the new CEO. The first is to once again restore the region's faith in the council's ability to competently undertake its core responsibilities in a way that meets our expectations.
I don't underestimate the importance of this task, but I also acknowledge that it won't happen overnight and there are some incredibly important decisions that the Council will need to make over the next 12 months that will surely test the region's patience and faith.
The second challenge is to rebuild the organisation internally and create an innovative culture that allows employees to meet the challenges faced by the region in a way that really adds value and enhances our national and global brand.
I would like to reiterate the fact that there are many amazingly innovative employees at the council and now we need to see them and their solutions to the region's issues come to the fore. Again, building a winning culture doesn't happen overnight but is vital if we are to reach our potential as a region.
What I know about James is that every major decision will be extremely well researched and evidence-based and that he will take a very pragmatic and principled approach to his role and responsibilities.
I'm excited about working closely with James and his team in a constructive way to really drive the type of outcomes and opportunities that will turn Hawke's Bay into unquestionably the best place in the country to live.
We should all be happy in the knowledge that in this case, the best person was appointed to the top role.
Stuart Nash is the Labour MP for Napier.