Tauranga MP Simon Bridges. Photo / File
Tauranga MP Simon Bridges says he does not want to see the city's embattled mayor Tenby Powell resign and the council needs to "get out the peace pipe".
Five councillors have supported a call for Powell to step down, but Powell says he is committed to leading the city progressively.
Bridges is among local leaders urging Tauranga City Council to reconcile and get its act together, with some fearing ongoing conflict between elected members is damaging the city.
The council will hold an emergency public meeting today to address the relationship breakdowns and attempt to avoid potential central Government intervention.
As a recently rolled National Party leader, Bridges has some experience leading a team with individuals working against him.
He said both sides of the council "divide" had a point, in his view, but needed to appreciate all elected members were democratically elected.
"Tenby Powell has been elected for a term and the overwhelming majority of Tauranga people would want to see him give it everything he's got until the last day.
"It's simply not an answer to say all fault lies on the other side, because it never does."
He encouraged the council to "get out the peace pipe" for the good of the city.
"We don't want to get to a position where we have to bring in a local government commissioner. Central government involvement should be the absolute last resort. The mayor and councillors in our city are better than that."
Today the council will consider a recommendation by staff to bring in Crown review and observation team to monitor the council.
The Department of Internal Affairs has expressed concern over reports of "significant conflict" in the council and asked for a response, and Local Government Minister Nanaia Mahuta has also been briefed.
A staff report for the meeting says there is evidence relationships between elected members are "dysfunctional" and the conflicts are "damaging to public confidence in [the] council" - which surveys previously pegged as low to begin with.
The Bay of Plenty Times spoke to other local leaders and MPs about Tauranga's situation and Powell's claims that relationships with other councils, iwi and Central Government have improved on his watch.
Neither Mahuta nor Urban Development Minister Phil Twyford would draw comparisons to previous terms but pointed to recent Government investment in the region.
Tauranga-based Labour MP Jan Tinetti, however, said Powell's leadership, along with that of council chief executive Marty Grenfell, was "a big part" of an improved relationship.
"I would say that every minister that works with the local government here would agree it has improved markedly."
She said the lift was also likely linked to the Government being further along in its work plan now. Tauranga had made good progress and she did not want to see it lost.
The former school principal recommended the council get some mediation and work to build trust and openness rather than play out issues in media or other forums.
"Sometimes you have to be open from all sides - whether you're the team member or whether you're the leader - to taking on board criticism and examining it from your own perspective and having that internal look."
Ngāi Te Rangi leader Paora Stanley said the council's relationship with Māori had improved under Powell's leadership, with the mayor often seeking input from tangata whenua leaders as well as non-government organisations.
He encouraged Powell to "batten down the hatches" and not be swayed by the "white noise".
Stanley, who knew Powell prior to his election through shared military links, said he did not serve with Powell - a Colonel in the army - but veterans he knew who did, would "go into the fire for the guy".
Asked about Tauranga's situation, Western Bay of Plenty mayor Garry Webber said only: "Democracy delivers a team and you just have to get on with it."
Bay of Plenty Regional Council chairman Doug Leeder said it was an unfortunate situation that would not help the city council's reputation.
In his view: "The organisation needs to get its act together because they represent a large number of people."
The region was fast-growing and needed the governance and the executive to be working "as tight as they possibly can", Leeder said.
He believed Tauranga's relationship with the central government had improved this term.
The three councils had demonstrated they were aligned, but the public display of disunity in Tauranga would not help, Leeder said.
Greg Brownless, the previous mayor of Tauranga, said relationships with other organisations in his term were good.
He said he was critical of the then-new coalition Government on some issues - particularly changes to transport policy and plans that impacted Tauranga - but raised it in a professional way.
"I felt I had to speak up in no uncertain terms for my community."
Stuart Crosby, who served four terms as mayor of Tauranga and is now a regional councillor, said the Local Government Act was clear on the mayor's legal role.
The act said a mayor should "provide leadership to the other members of the territorial authority; and the people in the district of the territorial authority".
Crosby said he always made it clear to councillors he was not their boss and they were accountable for their own actions.
"But, also that one of my roles was to provide leadership to the members in the authority, as per the law.
"You can't cherry-pick the ones you want to lead and the ones you don't."
Powell has said he signed up to lead the city, not the councillors.
Crosby said the "sideshows" at Tauranga City Council were, in his opinion, disappointing and damaging to the city and he hoped they could reconcile and refocus on governing the city.
"There are standards and conventions expected by the community of behaviour, and I would encourage all 11 elected members, the mayor and councillors, to re-read the oath that they took at inauguration, think about it and read it again."
He said he felt sorry for council staff, who were keeping the city running through the "breakdown in governance".
"When this kind of behaviour carries on it's incredibly difficult for them to get a clear direction."
Faced with councillors working against them, mayors had to just carry on, recognise people have a right to express their point of view, and find compromises, he said.
Powell said Crosby's comment about the act was correct and he would do his utmost to "ensure a core group of councillors are more united".
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