Photo / Laura Smith
COMMENT:
I spend a lot of my time connecting with businesses to make sure I understand the common views of local businesspeople across a number of topics.
To help, Tauranga Business Chamber polls our business audience every few months to check in on key issues.
A question I regularly get asked is: ‘What’s happening when the Commissioners leave Tauranga City Council next year?’
Returning to an elected council is a hot topic. Many local business leaders were supportive of the Government’s appointment of the Commissioners – hopeful it would stop the embarrassing governance dysfunction at Tauranga City Council.
Many also saw the need to break the inertia of successive councils’ failure to address the city’s big issues.
So, has the business mood changed since the Commissioners’ term started in 2021?
In our March straw poll, well over half of respondents (57 per cent) said they have concerns, or are anxious, about Tauranga City Council returning to a fully elected council in July 2024.
We have a diverse business community, and about a third (33 per cent) of respondents said they were happy to return to a fully elected council, while just under 10 per cent preferred not to say.
A responder’s comment that summarises this general nervousness well said: “Hopefully we don’t end up seeing the same heads pop up to be elected. We need fresh people, collaboration and leadership to keep moving forward.”
It’s safe to say the business community is concerned about potentially going ‘back to the future’.
Even of the third (33 per cent) of respondents who are happy to return to a fully elected council, not all were feeling confident. As one responder wrote, “I think the time is right, but that doesn’t mean I’m not anxious about it!”
I acknowledge the respondents who feel strongly about returning to local elections. Almost everyone I’ve spoken to strongly disagrees with at least one decision the Commissioners have made since 2021.
However, when I’m asked what local businesses think about the Commissioners leaving, I can confidently say the majority care less about who’s making the decisions – and more about whether they believe the council will deliver good outcomes for their rates.
Business leaders want to feel confident the council’s decision-makers have the right skills to: govern an organisation with nearly a billion dollars of annual expenditure; work with its community to set a clear direction in a complex environment; and not waste time with personal politics or agendas.
We are New Zealand’s fifth-largest city, after all.
As I said ahead of the 2019 local government election, I hope previously elected members will make way for a fresh start for both Tauranga City Council and the community in next year’s election.
In my view, the recent TECT and Bay of Plenty Regional Council elections delivered particularly poor results for those former Tauranga City Council elected members who stood. I believe this sends a message to previous elected members to step aside and make way for new leadership.
And on that note, there are rumours I may be campaigning to be Tauranga’s next mayor. Off the back of everything I’ve just said – I can assure you I will not be running for election next year. We need fresh leaders on Tauranga City Council.