SIMPSON FOR NAPIER
ISSUES & POLITICAL CONCERNS
Time for change, the issues, the dilemma
In just nine years;
Savings accounts spent ,Debt increased, and now 14 unbudgeted items
Is past performance the best predictor of future behavior?
In just nine years, your elected council has squandered large amounts from Councils savings accounts (these are called reserve funds) which had been built up over many decades and were used as internal funding options for capital asset renewals and protected rate payers form fluctuating commercial interest rates and external debt.
...... Click here to reading my thoughts on spent savings & impact of increasing Debt and what I would do.
What are the unbudgeted items, how much will they cost if you don't have a Mayor who will control rates increases?
I provide an extract: from the Prosperous Napier Committee - 09 June 2022 - Open Agenda, Item 3
..... Click here to reading the list of fourteen unbudgeted items.
So, is past performance the best predictor of future behavior?
- There's still chlorine in your drinking and bathing water - in 2019 she promised to remove chlorine
- There's still no War Memorial on Marine Parade - in 2019 she promised to reinstate the War Memorial
- She promised greater transparency
Lack of delivery
- Promises - realistic or false hope or something else?
- Outstanding issues - after three years how can there be so many uncertainties, why isn't there a plan?
- Excuses - those who collaborated in poor decision making will roll out justifications like past promises.
- Lost direction - significant opportunities were well developed, what underpins decisions not to proceed?
- Why I'm standing - a proven track record of public service.
- Have these promises been delivered?
Good competent Governors would have known the state of the water assets and regulatory responsibilities that prevented the removal of Chlorine, but someone created a furore and they wanted your vote!
While there are genuine impacts for some residents, it's intriguing how the furore stopped despite the chlorine remaining!
Previous Mayors have demonstrated their competence and capability by making things happen;
why hasn't the War Memorial been reinstated or a new one built under this Council's leadership?
In 2019, Who promised to remove Chlorine from your water?
In 2019, Who promised to reinstate the War Memorial?
Outstanding issues:
Who was on the 2013-2019 Council when the War Memorial was desecrated?
Why didn't we build a new Aquatic Centre when the Government could have paid for it?
Why don't we have a dedicated full service Central Library?
Why do we only have half a Museum?
Why is our Aquarium poorly maintained?
Who was on the 2013-2019 Council when Council's savings were spent, necessitating the need for large external loans, now when interest rates are increasing?
Why are there 14 significant unbudgeted items, and who's going to pay for these?
Why does the long term plan keep changing at short notice?
Why are senior staff frustrated?
Why have senior staff left in droves, from first, second and third tier management roles?
- is it because of poor Governance and political interference in management and operations?
They will roll out the excuses of COVID and floods but . . .
- Gisborne had COVID and floods and built a pool from a blank page, which the government paid for!
- HB Regional Sports Park during COVID and supply constraints built a pool the government paid for!
- Hastings managed to progress significant new housing and other initiatives during COVID!
Management should be left to manage operational matters, Governance need to elevate themselves into providing strategy, looking beyond the current activities, assessing consequence and future need.
Lost momentum and lost direction
The 2016-2019 Council and Management had a number of significant activities planned and ready for approval, capital projects to serve our community into the future, why haven't these been implemented?
- Because the 2019-2022 elected council was so stuck in minutiae there was no strategic direction
and therefore all-but nothing has been achieved.
- Our city couldn't do everything at once but good holistic Governance Led strategy and use of
government handouts would have set the priorities, altered levels of service and ensured things
happened.
Napier needs a Mayor and Civic Leadership that puts Napier's future before all else.
Napier needs Governance-led strategy.
Napier needs a Mayor who understands how to create, implement and maintain strategic direction.
Napier If you care, change the Mayor.
If you elected me to be Mayor, my mayoralty will all be about:
- serving you
- making the best decisions for the future of Napier
- ensuring a positive future blue print is inherited by my successors
- making civic leadership a role that is attractive to capable and competent residents and candidates
I know what it takes to be a good competent public servant, I will bring that experience to the Mayoralty and set high expectations for Councillors and higher levels of collaboration with partner organisations.
Big issues for residents are:
- Rates affordability - if I am Mayor, there will be no unbudgeted items.
- Getting things done - if I am Mayor, a prioritised delivery programme will be established immediately.
- Efficiency and effectiveness Governance to Delivery - I will streamline decision making.
- Accessibility, being connected with our community - I will invite leaders to meet with Council.
- Transparency - I will publicly list workshop subjects and which Councillors are attending meetings.
- 3 Waters - I am absolutely against the Governments 4 entity proposal, but some changes are needed locally.
- Safety and security in the suburbs - I will advocate for better social outcomes and police presence.
- Q&A - Answers to frequently asked questions
Rates - Ratepayers do not have limitless wallets. I will only say yes to new proposals once Council have agreed cuts somewhere else or can ensure that Council maintains a balanced budget. Many residents are on fixed income or are within the medium income brackets and simply can't afford the forecast (Long Term Plan) rates increases with the number of unbudgeted items (14) due to hit their pockets, Napier needs a Mayor who cares, and will ensure that Council expenses and income are balanced and reasonable.
.......... soon I will post further thoughts on rates equality, questioning if we've actually got the settings right?
Decision making and getting things done should be easy when your organisation employs experts in their fields and your resources include some of the most experienced technical experts (consultants) in the country, right?
But when your elected lay people (i.e. Mayor and Council) dismiss professional advice, guidance or professional opinion and request further reports, it's either procrastination or predetermination and that becomes problematic, expensive for rate payers and disheartening for staff who have been tasked with progressing activities, investments or capital projects.
.......... Click here to keep reading my thoughts on Decision Making and what I would do.
Efficiency and effectiveness - procrastination and flip-flopping at the Council table cost ratepayers millions of dollars at a time (look at the pool $43M could blow out to $100M) indecisiveness causes confusion for staff (they don't know where to prioritise their time and what to get done) and can cause stress, anxiety or frustration for residents (think of the anxiety our pensioner housing tenants experienced over years while Council reviewed and then considered whether to retain or sell their homes, it was cruel really). The absence of good Civic Leadership failed to empathise and prioritise action to mitigate a considerable period of anxiety for these elderly residents.
.......... soon I will post further thoughts on efficiency, exploring how simple change will improve effectiveness.
Transparency - They promised greater transparency
Why are there no public records of Councillor attendance at meetings and workshops and the subject matter of workshops after 2020? 2020-2022-Elected-Member-Meeting-Attendance.pdf (napier.govt.nz)
Why are there no public records of attendance at other formal responsibilities as set out in the Governance Statement Appendix Three?
While attendance isn't necessarily a demonstration of contribution or commitment, if I were Mayor you'd be able to look up attendance lists.
Ask the residents of Parklands what they think of Napier City Council's transparency?
Residents claim Napier council working behind closed doors to approve housing development | RNZ News
Napier City Council quiet on korero with Kainga Ora over housing near pool site - NZ Herald
A transparent council? One that the CEO of that organisation has to use LGOIMAs to get information form! Some of the City Councillor's were not informed, that LGOIMAs had been lodged, so who is keeping secrets?
Why did a CEO need to make an official information request of her own council? | Stuff.co.nz
Nothing to see here! Thats what some of your elected Council are saying. yeah right.
The need for Council to be informed on commercial or sensitive matters to make preliminary decisions in public exclusion, to enable Management to explore options, is a useful way to progress research or reporting without influence or bias.
If I were Mayor, I would change policy to ensure that by default decisions are released publicly unless Council actively resolve to keep matters confidential.
3 Waters - I have regularly stated my opposition to the three waters reforms.
A united Hawke’s Bay regional service delivery would cost less than what the Government is proposing.
.......... Click here to keep reading my thoughts on 3 Waters and what I would do.
Ahuriri Estuary, Pandora Pond and the Proposed Regional Park
Absolutely Napier City Council and the Residents and the Industrial and Commercial operators in Napier need to do better in preventing the amount of litter, rubbish, sediment and waterborne contaminants that are put into our streams, open and piped drains particularly those that discharge into Ahuriri Estuary.
Individual responsibility to properly dispose of rubbish and chemicals and control sediment discharge is key to reducing the amount of contamination of our estuary.
Napier City Council already has programmes of work including the recent Trade Waste and Wasterwater Drainage Bylaws, nets on some drain outlets and investigations into contaminants in the sediments in the bottom of contributories that enter the estuary and whether these can be removed to improve the water quality of the Estuary and pandora pond.
Some promised no more vanity projects, so the proposed 'regional park' must just be a pet project then. This was included in the last long term plan without a business case, a budget or a management plan meaning while the city should fund the storm water scrubbing proposal can we afford to pay for a "regional" park, what will this cost to establish, what will it cost to maintain and who's going to pay for this? No one has actually provided the dollar figures for this, they just expect you to pay for it!
Answers to the Questions I've been Asked
- Advocacy - is occurring your new Council needs to develop strategy to mitigate impact and cost
- Climate Change - is occurring your new Council needs to develop strategy to mitigate impact and cost
- Co-governance - the purpose of local government is to provide facilities and services to all residents
- Controlling Rates Increases - many residents are on fixed incomes, increases need to be sustainable
- Fluoridation of potable water - not something I would impose on our community, but the MOH might
- Freedom camping - offered the best real estate, should it be user pays or free somewhere else?
- Housing and Homelessness - is a central government responsibility, they have under optimised land
- Kerb-side food waste collection - individuals are best placed to manage food waste
- Māori Wards - like any other ward only voters enrolled in a ward can vote in that ward, they are proportional
- Revitalisation of our CBD’s - council needs to support each of our CBD's to ensure vibrancy and growth
- Three waters - I'm against the nationalisation and entity 'C' proposal, local democracy should set priorities
- Water conservation and quality - a collective responsibility, to take care of this finite resource
Advocacy - How loudly have you heard your current elected council advocate for better Government supplied services? Law & Order, Education, Health, Housing, Welfare?
The national health reforms should have been a real opportunity to request government to address inequity and enhance the level of service to the 56,000+ Napier residents that live north of the Tutaekuri river. With recent overnight closures due to short staffing, did your Mayor petition the Minister of Health for increased resourcing and services?
In our southern suburbs school roles are full, has your Council petitioned the Minister of Education for more classrooms or another school to meet our growing population and city growth plans?
Some residents fear going out, even to the shops in daylight, has your Mayor petitioned the Minister of Police for more police on our streets?
If I were Mayor government Ministers would be hearing from me regularly, I’d be your advocate for better government services.
Climate change is an evolving risk to coastal and low-lying communities.More frequent extreme weather events are occurring. It is important that Council take a long-term strategic consequence-based view, prioritising work to protect our most vulnerable communities.
The potential impacts of climate change on Napier and Council’s operations need to be understood, communicated and addressed in a clear strategic and systematic way to ensure any impact on our community and rates is minimised and managed appropriately over time.
- assessing the forty-three climate change risks and their consequences for Napier.
- Working toward improved water quality in drains and Ahuriri Estuary
- Encouraging less waste to landfill by promoting recycling and home composting
- identifying minimum building consent floor heights accounting for sea level rise and flood risk.
- Working with HBRC to strengthen our coastal hazard defences
- determining where costs should lie as the rate payer should not be burdened with the whole cost
I'm Committed to Council: Developing appropriate foresighted strategies for climate change impact and resilience. I will see that Council, Central Government and private property owners collaborate on cost sharing to minimise any burden on ratepayers.
Co-governance - It is important to remember the purpose of local government, primarily it is to establish and maintain facilities and provide services in a shared way for the benefit of all residents and visitors. Section 3 of the LG Act sets this out including ‘local authorities to play a broad role in promoting the social, economic, environmental, and cultural well-being of their communities, taking a sustainable development approach’.
There are some community members that have greater affinity to and understanding of social, or economic, or environmental, or cultural well-being issues and through genuine public consultation these residents help to inform decision makers but in a democracy like ours at the decision-making table every vote should be equal as every vote should be to make decisions that benefit our community as a whole.
Controlling rates increases – Napier City Council struggled to meet its legal obligations to agree a balanced budget over the life of its last long-term-plan 2021-31. There are a number of significant capital and operational budget items scheduled for delivery over the next ten years and there are fourteen significant capital and operational items on the list of agreed but unbudgeted items reported to Council in June 2022.
The current circumstances including rampant inflation mean there is no funding for additional items and requires the new council to take a serious look at all budgeted and unbudgeted items, consider the priority and necessity of every significant project to determine when and how these can be funded and scheduled. To incorporate the necessary significant items Council will have to seriously look at all current budgets and activities to determine which are core business and which are not and which activity levels of service can be reduced to allow the fourteen unbudgeted items to be funded.
Under my leadership there will be no new surprises, Napier simply can’t afford anything that isn’t already listed! Plus pending local government reforms, three waters, Resource Management Act split and review into the future of local government will also influence what Councils do in the future.
Fluoridation of potable water - As far as I am aware Napier has never added fluoride to its water supply and so long as our community was opposed, I would oppose this. Fluoride is a medication that the Medical Officer of Health can require local Councils to add to potable water supplies. Medical experts indicate that good oral hygiene has wider health benefits and this is their rational for mass dosing populations. Personal responsibility, buying and using appropriate toothpaste, can achieve similar outcomes. I strongly oppose the mandating of fluoride when other simple and easily achievable options exist.
Further reading on this matter is available at: https://stuff.pressreader.com/article/281590949428793 - can i get too much fluoride from water or toothpaste?
https://www.colgate.com/en-us/oral-health/fluoride/fluoride-dangers-how-much-is-too-much
https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9241563192
https://www.euro.who.int/__data/assets/pdf_file/0018/123075/AQG2ndEd_6_5Fluorides.PDF
https://www.springwellwater.com/effects-of-fluoride-in-water/
Freedom camping is a great opportunity for both domestic and international visitors to visit our city.
I do muse that we provide some of our best real estate (our foreshore) for freedom camper use at no charge while rate payers incur a cost maintaining ablution blocks and rubbish removal. I wonder if we could operate these locations like the Doc sites around the country, on a cost recovery basis. That aside, hopefully our visiting freedom campers visit our attractions, eat in our restaurants and spend money with our retailers.
Perhaps we could charge for the foreshore and provide free somewhere else?
The new certified Self Containment rules are good, but will make no difference until the vehicle providers (the discount hirers) remove the significant bonds against the use of the toilet facility within the vehicle and the maturity with regard respecting our natural environment improves. We need to ensure that all campers regardless follow the adage leave only your footprints behind.
Housing and Homelessness -
Successive central governments should be ashamed of their track record of not providing and not maintaining available Government owned housing stock. Central Government is responsible for housing residents who struggle to either afford market rental properties or can’t afford to purchase their own home. Central Government effectively created the housing crisis, Central Government needs to take responsibility for fixing the housing crisis and they need to not only provide the house but also ensure appropriate wrap-around services to support their tenants and ensure that their tenants look after these properties and integrate well within neighbourhoods. Sadly, government agencies nationally seem unable to deliver levels of service that maintain the property or encourage tenants who don’t accept individual responsibility to be good neighbours.
Councils’ role is advocate to Government on behalf of residents for better government owned and managed housing. Central Government, guazi government and other entities already own large amounts of land in Napier which is underutilised and could be developed as permanent rental or affordable housing.
Councils can identify suitable land for development or designate areas as infill housing or for intensified residential development enabling developers, Investors, aspiring or existing property owners to build or subdivide in an open market. Rate payers should not subsidise central governments role in providing housing. I believe if Council owns land it should follow previous precedence when releasing new blocks so as not to disadvantage previous investors in that area and our community should expect appropriate return on sale of land, and not expect to subsidise sale of Councils Investments. Council has recently resolved as an unbudgeted item to discharge any social housing holdings and focus on pensioner housing. This is common sense as this is a significant asset against which Council can leverage lending for improvements, new builds and other community infrastructure..
Kerbside food waste collection - The majority of Napier residents could manage their own food waste and general composting activities on their own property. There may be opportunity to offer locations where residents could deliver their food waste or compostable material to be communally managed
Māori Wards - In essence Māori wards are no different to having the Taradale or Napier South wards. Only the residents enrolled to vote in that ward can nominate and vote for candidates standing in that ward and the number of candidates should be proportional to the total community and population on the role for each ward. It’s up to nominators and voters to encourage capable candidates to stand and vote for the best available to represent that ward. At the Council table elected Councillors regardless which ward elect them will have the same speaking rights and will each only have a single vote.
Council undertook a full public consultation process, hearing community views in a formal hearing process, and decided based on the information presented to enable Maori Wards from the 2025 Local body elections. To be clear initially I wasn’t supportive, questioning whether this was the best way for residents to be represented, but due to the written and oral submissions I eventually voted in favour (bearing in mind, that this decision can be overturned through future consultation). In a process set down for next year Councillors will decide based on population and number of enrolled voters in each ward how many City Councillor positions will be elected and proportionately how many each ward will have.
Revitalisation of our CBD’s – our city has a number of different size and shaped centralised business districts, and each of these provide a range of services to their local communities. The current Napier City Vision focuses exclusively on the main Napier Central City and Ahuriri areas at the exclusion of what needs to be done to enhance and maintain other business areas.
If I were Mayor I will seek a more holistic and inclusive city vision incorporating a number of inter-linked master plans future casting what our whole district needs to look and feel like.
Vibrancy is the key to the prosperity of any CBD, and each CBD needs to have a 24/7 life. To achieve this the development of apartments, pedestrian friendly space and zones that separate the noisy stuff from the environments that need quite. Council need to work with the Business Associations who in turn need to work with their member business to develop strategy, opportunities and funding mechanisms that don’t necessarily burden ratepayers but provide insight into what is really needed locally and how this can be provided to attract visitors, customers and inhabitants.
The proposed spatial plan if approved will enable more intensified residential developments around each CBD and the growth of these communities over time will enhance vibrancy, local spend and new businesses (eateries, superettes, retailers) to support these communities. Growing our population close to these CBDs will also make access to public transport perhaps increasing demand and frequency and as more residents take up public transport they will have fewer cars and our environment will be better off.
3 waters reform, the proposed centralised model distances governance from democracy and people most effected by poor decision making. It leaves the assets vulnerable to future law change and sale into private hands. Residents should retain their capacity to lobby their local authority annually for service improvements or triennially change the local governance of their 3 waters if they are unhappy.
Additionally comprehensive reports have demonstrated that, if the current level of funding committed by each of the Hawke's Bay Councils is maintained a Hawke's Bay model of three waters is sustainable, keeps asset ownership local, ensures locals determine priorities and can be delivered in a more economical way than the proposed entity 'C' version.
for further information on three waters see my more detailed post
Water conservation and water quality , especially in summer, is extremely important for Napier as our community grows. Good timely public information and individual responsibility are both key to better outcomes.
Lets address my concerns about ‘the culture’ of the City Council and what it is that concerns me and why change would be a good thing?
- Culture - I will ensure that elected members focus on Governance and Strategy not interfering in delivery.
- Democracy - I will not have my back to our residents during meetings and residents will feel heard.
- Change - I will introduce a new Governance structure focused on Long-Term-Plan activity delivery.
- Apathy - I will lead a Council that genuinely engages with a wider range of our community.
- Group think - I will welcome difference of opinion in decision making and ideas from left field.
- Independence and freedom of speech - I will not tolerate cancel culture on a Council I lead.
My experience over thirty years across fifteen local government organisations working with governance, observing it, facilitating it, doing it and having completed Master level studies in governance, strategy and leadership, I have witnessed good and bad. I am fortunate that I can draw on these experiences to ensure Napier shifts to best practice governance after the election, if you elect me Mayor.
I have led large complicated multijurisdictional organisations. I understand the need for inter-organisational collaboration and how to draw upon the capacity of other organisations to achieve outcomes. Your 'Council' can not operate in isolation or in a self-righteous way. Change is needed.
Culture starts at the top of every organisation, so what I will focus on is the ‘elected’ environment. The ‘elected Council’ set the tone. In local government the CEO is responsible for the culture within the organisation but the Mayor (particularly) and Council as a whole should monitor this and guide the CEO if Governance believe there are issues.
The role of the elected Council is to document what residents want delivered over time, and to set that out in a governance led strategy that Management then cost (forecasting budgets and resource needs) for council to prioritise in to a Long-Term-Plan. Councillors should then trust management and enable them to implement without interference and report progress, while Governance then focuses on the next future.
.......... soon I will post further thoughts on culture, exploring how simple change will improve organisation well-being
while you are waiting for my fuller blog ask yourselves Why did a CEO need to make an official information request of her own council? | Stuff.co.nz
Democracy, we all crave it, some use their democratic right to vote, some just complain, others abuse it.
You elect twelve City Councillors with the expectation that each will have an equal say at the Council table, each will be informed equally, and each will put Napier first. You’d expect all Councillors would be informed about significant issues quickly? Remember the adage ‘information is power’.
........... Click here to keep reading my thoughts on democracy and what I would do.
Change in Napier City Council's modus operandi has swung significantly both ways over the last decade, from purposeful, to courageous and now timid and indecisive. A new style of Civic Leader has emerged, what are they trying to achieve and who are they looking after? So on that note why aren’t the War Memorial, Central Library, Civic Building or Aquatic Centre well progressed or complete by now? Some will roll out COVID as an excuse but many other Cities have managed to get projects completed (look at the recently opened pool at Mitre 10 Park), so why hasn't Napier?
............ Click here to keep reading my thoughts on Change Management risks and what I would do.
Apathy empowers some, especially those who seek power or authority and enables them to recruit their allies to fill the void. It’s actually quite easy, if there aren’t enough nominations just phone a friend!! Napier needs a City Council that is relevant, accessible and engaging with our community. When election nominations are double the seats available and candidates have great competencies and capabilities, we'll know your council is on the right track.
.......... Click here to keep reading my thoughts on Apathy and what I would do.
“A lot of you cared, just not enough.”
Jay Asher
Group think is empowered by other people’s apathy and strengthened by its own momentum. The more the ‘in crowd’ convince themselves that they are right, the less they want to hear from others like employed managers or consultants who are experts in their field and thus power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. When I say others in this context, I include members of committees or working parties that are not in the ‘in crowd’ or as easily influenced or corruptible as others.
.......... Click here to keep reading my thoughts on Group think risks and what I would do.
"You never really learn much from hearing yourself talk"
George Clooney
Independence and freedom of speech should be encouraged at the council table. Historically Napier City Council has functioned best when the thirteen elected representatives have operated independently, as every Councillor has opportunity to contribute to their strengths and our city benefits as a whole. When allegiances form and the civic leader favours some over others democracy is in peril. The current election campaign demonstrates collaboration and allegiances, is that the type of council you want? if not you have the ability to vote for change.
Our community should anticipate independent free-thinking and honest exchange around the council table, because that’s where you’d expect forming of decisions to occur through debate and discussion.
If our community is not seeing debate, where are decisions being made? Surely staff aren’t getting their recommendations correct 100% of the time negating the need for debate?
The current election campaign demonstrates collaboration and allegiances. the last three years
.......... soon I will post further thoughts on Independence, how important individual contribution at the Council table is.
Long term plans (LTP) and a number of other documents that need to be joined up (like the District Plan, rates and other policies) set out the elected council's strategy and guide the CEO ten years into the future, informing them of the anticipated shape and style of growth and levels of service and major expenditure. This allows the CEO to design the Council organisation and recruit staff with the competencies and capabilities to meet those future needs. Napier needs a mayor who will implement proper governance led strategy development and stop the flip-flops and short term meddling at operational level.
.......... Click here to keep reading my thoughts on Long Term Plans risks and what I would do.
Strategy, the elected Council has one primary role and that is to document the City's long term Strategy, confirm residents confidence in the strategy, have the CEO implement a work programme to achieve the strategy providing updates, regularly at Governance review and discuss progress and then every three years update the strategy.
When the Council flip-flop and demonstrate no consistency in providing a strategic approach to achieving the significant issues for Napier, Napier will stagnate and miss out on opportunities and good staff will move on looking for certainty.
.......... soon I will post further thoughts on Strategy, exploring how simple change will improve long term achievements.
in the interim read my post on Long-Term-Planning.
“If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail!”
Benjamin Franklin
Priorities as I see them
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Getting the War Memorial built and ready for the 2023 ANZAC ceremony.
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Progress recruitment of a capable, competent and experienced Chief Executive Officer.
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Reviewing proposed Local Government reforms for impact on the future core services Council delivers.
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Prioritise the significant strategically needed assets and projects for pricing and scheduling.
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Quantifying Councils core services and levels of these services, reviewing every activity, service, project and budget to guide management in the drafting of the next Long-Term-Plan,
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Introduce a new efficient, effective and more agile governance structure to deliver the purpose of local government, aligning Councillor portfolios with Long-Term-Plan activities and renumeration.
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Evaluate the equity of the current rating system.
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Ensure that Council meetings take place in Council owned facilities.
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Establish a triennial Governance calendar to ensure Councils programme of governance work is clearly set out, no bylaws lapse and 'Council' processes occur in a timely way to guide management on levels of support and anticipated outputs.
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Become an advocate at government level, speaking loudly for our residents, fighting for better government funded Social and wellbeing services, Health services and Law & Order processes
The foundation for better future outcomes will be to:
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Understanding the proposed reforms of local government; 3 waters, Resource Management Act (split into 3) and actual proposed reform changes to Local government itself, considering intended and unintended consequences to core activities, impact on community and future levels of services.
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consolidate the outstanding and unbudgeted matters, into a comprehensive Long Term Plan
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focus on Councils core services,
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progress the ability of non core services being operationally sustainable as self funding entries
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ensure that the 'Vision' for Napier is holistic and inclusive
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commence visionary master planning of our future City
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Join up the City Vision, Spatial Plan, District Plan, Codes of compliance, Rating Policy, Master Plans and Long-Term-Plan to ensure we remove inequalities and enable positive growth and equitable cost sharing.
There's more to come, so come back for updates. ;)
What's coming? further posts will cover my thoughts on:
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Councillor Renumeration and performance
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Changes to Governance Structures
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Consolidation and getting things done
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Making being on Council a more attractive proposition for future capable and competent candidates
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Why I'm running a dual campaign