Tauranga City Council's elected members have been meeting online during the Covid-19 lockdown. Photo / File
Tauranga City Council's elected members have been meeting online during the Covid-19 lockdown. Photo / File
A leading authority of local government has issued a warning to Bay of Plenty councils not to let the Covid-19 response cloud their ability to continue open and transparent democracy.
The advice comes as Tauranga City Council admits its elected members have been meeting online during the lockdown period todiscuss city issues and instruct staff without public knowledge.
Tauranga City Council's elected members have been meeting online during the Covid-19 lockdown. Photo / File
Local Government New Zealand vice-president Stuart Crosby said there was a fine line between having an informal workshop to catch up on matters and discussing issues that should be in a public forum.
"Councillors must be very, very careful that they do not make decisions outside of formal council meetings, and how they may give staff direction must be treated very carefully," Crosby said.
The former Tauranga mayor said that during an emergency response, such as Covid-19, there was the risk of councillors informally discussing how to manage an issue to such a point, it would effectively be rubber-stamped at a public meeting.
Crosby, who is also a Bay of Plenty regional councillor, said this took transparency away from people "to see there was a robust debate and that all aspects of it was covered, that all of the points of view were heard".
"We live in a democratic process where people vote people to make decisions on their behalf. That requires trust and confidence and the best way to gain that trust and confidence is with transparency," Crosby said.
Local Government New Zealand vice-president Stuart Crosby says local councillors need to be careful when discussing city issues outside of public meetings. Photo / File
Tauranga City Council's manager of people and engagement, Susan Jamieson, confirmed its councillors established an informal, online catch-up process but "these are not formal meetings and no decisions are made".
"In some instances, matters of concern (such as the isolation and difficulties vulnerable community members are experiencing during the pandemic lockdown) have been raised with council staff to follow-up and address," Jamieson said.
The Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 dictates councils must notify people of any upcoming meetings.
However, Jamieson said these catch-ups were not formal and needed no such notification due to their "ad hoc" nature.
The Bay of Plenty Times understands matters discussed at the end of last month duringa meeting of elected members included potential fast-tracking of construction of walkways and cycleways, the Elizabeth St upgrade and a response to the city's homeless situation.
Jamieson confirmed the council executive team was working with the Government to identify key "shovel-ready" infrastructure projects "that could be initiated post-lockdown, to kick-start our regional economy".
Councillors asked if walkways and cycleways could be part of that, she said.
Western Bay of Plenty chief executive Miriam Taris says all meetings have been suspended during the Covid-19 lockdown. Photo/ File
Jamieson said the council has long provided executive briefings on matters of potential future interest for councillors, which would continue via Skype on an as-needs basis during the lockdown period.
"Briefings are purely for information purposes, with no decisions sought or made. If the matters under discussion do reach a point where a council decision is required, they would be reported to a formal council meeting."
Tauranga mayor Tenby Powell said elected members were "simply discussing the things that people are dealing with, or ideas that could be pursued, and where we think there's something constructive the council can do, we pass that on for staff to look into".
When asked how ratepayers could be reassured of openness and transparency, Powell said elected members were talking with people every day and responding to the issues raised by people.
"That's our job as elected members and that's what we're doing."
Western Bay of Plenty District Council chief executive Miriam Taris said it has held no meetings, formal or informal, since its final meeting on March 24, when an Emergency Council Committee was set up.
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All council meetings have been suspended for the lockdown period. However, Taris and Western Bay mayor Garry Webber were keeping in contact with elected members through digital channels "to ensure they are kept up-to-date with day to day council operations and specific Covid-19 responses".
A Bay of Plenty Regional Council spokeswoman said it was holding informal councillor catch-ups twice a week for the chief executive to inform elected members of the organisation's issues and responses. These were not public meetings.
When and how are local councils meeting?
The next Tauranga City Council meeting is expected to be held on April 21 and is expected to be done on Skype and livestreamed.
This meeting will be the first since March 25, when the Government enacted urgent temporary changes to the Local Government Act 2002 and the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987. These enable elected members to attend meetings via audio or audio-visual link and be counted in any decision making. The changes also redefined the definition of "open to public" to include access via broadcasting via audio or visual access.
The regional council is now placed to livestream its Zoom meetings via its YouTube channel. An extraordinary council meeting is planned to take place on April 17, which will be advertised online with a link to the meeting livestream.
