The Rotorua Lakes Council Strategy, Policy and Finance Committee meeting on Thursday, held via video conference. Photo / Screencap
The Rotorua Lakes Council Strategy, Policy and Finance Committee meeting on Thursday, held via video conference. Photo / Screencap
A Rotorua district council committee has voted against recommending a governance structure recommended by its mana whenua partnership representatives for adoption.
Rotorua Lakes Council's Strategy, Policy and Finance Committee instead voted in favour of a model it had developed in closed-door workshops, which would see one Māori wardwith two seats, one general ward with four seats, four at-large seats and the mayor.
The recommendation will need to be adopted by the full council before it goes to public consultation, ultimately defining the council's governance structure ahead of the 2022 local election.
In the meeting, held via video conference on Thursday, Te Tatau o Te Arawa representative Eugene Berryman-Kamp put forward an amended structure which would see one Māori ward with three seats, one general ward with six seats, one at-large councillor, as well as the mayoral role.
Berryman-Kamp told the committee Te Tatau o Te Arawa had held webinars with and canvassed 119 responses from Te Arawa and others on the Māori electoral roll.
He said though individual voters might be able to vote for more people under the council's model, "actually there's a desire to retain the maximum number of dedicated Māori seats through the ward system that we can".
Te Tatau o Te Arawa representative Eugene Berryman-Kamp. Photo / File
He said part of Te Tatau's role as the council's partner was to seek the Te Arawa view and it had been an "overwhelming" majority - 82 per cent – in favour of one Māori ward with three seats.
Mayor Steve Chadwick said she could not support Berryman-Kamp's amendment, saying the public-excluded workshops were done "together" with elected members, including Te Tatau and all options, including the one that was favoured by Te Arawa, had been workshopped.
She was worried that under other models, people on the Māori roll would only be able to vote for three candidates, calling it "effectively … reductionist".
"I haven't held webinars but when I'm out and about I was asked every time what do you think about the options … I want to get the most people with the broadest views and the most diverse on to [the] council."
She said the two Māori seat model would achieve "greater diversity".
"We'll get more Māori at large and so the numbers could be very surprising."
Council chief executive Geoff Williams said it would be "quite proper" for the debate to be had at the "next phase" when the council's initial proposal – the proposed governance structure – went out for public consultation.
"What you are voting on today, of course, is not the final model."
Fellow Te Tatau o Te Arawa representative Potaua Biasiny-Tule said Te Arawa wanted to "ensure we had more representation than less".
Councillor Reynold Macpherson said in one sense he agreed with Berryman-Kamp, in that there were 28 per cent of voters on the Māori roll and therefore should have three-tenths of the seats on a 10-councillor council.
Councillor Sandra Kai Fong said the council's proposal went "against our partnership with Te Tatau" although there would still be an opportunity for the model to be refined through public consultation.
Rotorua Lakes Community Board chairman Phill Thomass
said he understood where Te Tatau was coming from but believed the original proposal was the "best way to get the maximum number of votes in front of iwi whether they're on the Māori roll or [general] roll".
Deputy mayor Dave Donaldson said the closed-door workshops had "arrived at the fairest model".
Berryman-Kamp's amendment was voted down with three in favour of it.
The council does not record individual votes for, against or in abstention unless an elected member requests it.
The committee agreed to recommend the council's initial proposal to a full council meeting for adoption. Mercia Yates moved the motion, with Macpherson, Kai Fong and Berryman-Kamp against, along with councillor Peter Bentley. Biasiny-Tule abstained.
The council will likely make a final decision on the model to put out for consultation on August 31.
The consultation – a representation review - will ask the public how it would like the council's governance structure to work – including how many wards there are and how many seats are in each, as well as how many councillors should be elected at-large.
At-large candidates are not bound by wards and can be voted on by anyone within the territorial bounds.
Whether or not Māori wards exist in Rotorua for the next two local elections will not be part of the consultation as the council agreed to adopt these in May.
If approved by the full council on August 31, consultation will run from September 8 to October 8.
THE VOTES
For Te Tatau o Te Arawa's preferred structure - one Māori ward with three seats, one general ward with six seats, one a-large councillor, the mayor (at-large) and retention of lakes and rural community boards:
For one Māori ward with two seats, one general ward with four seats, four at-large seats, the mayor (at-large) and retention of lakes and rural community boards:
