Former Rotorua mayor Steve Chadwick has advice for the incoming mayor. Photo / NZME
Former Rotorua mayor Steve Chadwick has advice for the incoming mayor. Photo / NZME
Former Rotorua mayor Steve Chadwick has advice for the incoming mayor. Photo / NZME A_120522aw22.JPG
OPINION:
The Rotorua Daily Post asked me to share what advice I would have for the incoming mayor, and first and foremost, I believe it's vitally important for our new leader to be successful.
I'mconfident all our newly-elected members will bring their passion for Rotorua to the table. They will need to be brave in making decisions for the good of the community and be confident in their decision-making.
The job is about making well-informed decisions for the good of all – not just some – residents and the good of the whole district.
Your decisions won't always be popular, but leadership isn't about popularity, and it helps to remember you are making "mokopuna decisions" – decisions for a positive future for this district we all love.
Relationships and partnerships have been key to the progress achieved during the past few terms and for elected members, which has included working collaboratively and effectively with the council organisation to ensure progress against the direction and vision that were set.
A lot of hard work has been done – and continues – and there are, of course, significant challenges that remain and need to continue to be addressed.
A new mayor and council will look to re-focus on a future they want to create as a team, but ongoing collaboration with mana whenua, the government of the day, its agencies and others will continue to be vital to achieving success.
Council can't do it alone. You can lead, advocate, facilitate and enable – but success will only be achieved through good relationships and partnerships with others who can contribute to the solutions, and when you're all working together, effectively and collaboratively, towards shared outcomes.
Former Rotorua mayor Steve Chadwick has advice for the incoming mayor. Photo / NZME
Forget electioneering and rhetoric of the past, forget personalities, and stay focused on what's important: on the needs of the community at large and the work you need to do and decisions you need to make to meet those needs.
Being the mayor is a full-time job and it's not an easy job. You must always remain open to learning and to new ideas and other perspectives.
What you may think is the solution isn't always the case, so you must keep an open mind.
You won't always get everything absolutely right – we're all human after all – but you should always be able to put hand-to-heart and say you did what you thought was best for the community and the future of the district, with the knowledge and understanding you had at the time and taking all relevant factors into consideration.
It has been an absolute privilege to serve the community as mayor, and having also served the district in other capacities over a number of decades. I will continue to be a passionate supporter of and advocate for our wonderful district.
I wish the new mayor and elected members all the very best as they build on what has already been achieved and look to keep our district moving forward in a positive direction.
