Kaipara District mayor Dr Jason Smith said Northland councils would not be taking a blanket 20 per cent pay cut. Photo / File
Kaipara District mayor Dr Jason Smith said Northland councils would not be taking a blanket 20 per cent pay cut. Photo / File
Northland's elected local government leaders are holding on to their current levels of remuneration - in spite of the region's growing Covid-19 impact.
Jason Smith, Northland Mayoral Forum chairman, said yesterday Northland councils would not be taking a blanket 20 per cent pay cut, mirroring the Prime Minister JacindaArdern who on Wednesday committed to this action for six months to "show leadership" through the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Smith's comments were made on behalf of the Far North District Council (FNDC), the Kaipara District Council (KDC), the Whangārei District Council (WDC) and the Northland Regional Council (NRC) and came after the Prime Minister's commitment.
He said Northland councils could not, under prevailing New Zealand law, simply decide to reduce remuneration for the region's 42 elected representatives. This had been established by New Zealand's Remuneration Authority which set the level of remuneration that councillors received.
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But councillors did have the capacity to make donations from their individual remuneration.
The Northland Mayoral Forum was encouraging its elected representatives to do this. There would be no prescribed level for an individual councillor's donations.
Some councillors had already been making donations to those in need for some time. These were in some cases more than 20 per cent of an individual's remuneration.
Deborah Glasgow, Whangaruru South Residents and Ratepayers Association chairwoman from Oakura, said, "If that's the case, we need to see a published list of which councillors are making donations of this type during these Covid-19 times.
"Then we'll know who to vote for, come the next elections. Doing this would be a symbolic gesture for ratepayers, who after all pay their remuneration."
"There'll be very few Northland ratepayers not having some sort of impact from Covid-19," Glasgow said.
Richard Gunson, Mangawhai ratepayer, business operator and local business association chairman said: "We need to see some sort of symbolic gesture. After all a lot of people in Northland are suffering much more than the 20 per cent pay cut Jacinda Ardern's taken."
The campground owner's income has been cut by 100 per cent to zero as a result of Covid-19 level four lockdown.
Meanwhile, Bay of Islands' Jane Johnston, president of the Paihia and Kerikeri ratepayers' associations and a FNDC/NRC ratepayer said more should be done.
"The Far North is going to be in a deeper and longer recession from this event than it was from the global financial crisis," Johnston said.
"It seems they (councillors) are removed from the people they represent," she said.
Smith said Northland's elected representatives understood there was interest in what "pay cuts" were being considered for their remuneration at this time.
The Mayoral Forum's council leaders encouraged councillors to continue doing the best for their communities, through actions including financial contributions from their individual remuneration.
Far North mayor John Carter and his deputy, Ann Court. Photo / File
Smith said each elected representative knew best where, when and how much his or her contribution added to the local community.
"They're close to their communities and know where support is most needed," he said.
Elected members were encouraged to continue contributing to preferred causes of most impact and benefit, as they saw fit. Contributions of this type to local communities and chosen charities had always been part of good public service in the region.
"Such contributions have a stimulating and supportive effect in the community, which at this current and foreseeable challenging time is particularly helpful. This is local leadership in action," Smith said.
"Maintaining the ability to respond personally with donations and contributions is important and that principle is being upheld here in the North."
