The decision on how to elect Tauranga City's next batch of councillors is being debated. Photo / George Novak
The decision on how to elect Tauranga City's next batch of councillors is being debated. Photo / George Novak
Tauranga City may not have any elected councillors at present, but debate has begun over how to elect the next crop.
Among the questions facing the city are: How many councillors should there be? Should they represent wards or the city as a whole — or a mix? How manywards should there be? Should Tauranga have community boards?
To answer these questions, the commission-governed council has started a representation review, which all councils must do every six years under the Local Government Act.
Council staff proposed three options for how 12 councillor roles, with one mayor — up from the previous 10 councillors and mayor — could be arranged. These were discussed at a meeting of the council's strategy, finance and risk committee on Monday.
The four commissioners unanimously voted in April to establish a Māori ward for the next election, upholding a split decision of the elected council they replaced.
The review will not be an opportunity to relitigate that decision, but the new ward meant the council would need to create at least one general ward.
Tauranga City Council electoral officer Warwick Lampp. Photo / NZME
Commission chairwoman Anne Tolley believed the option that would see most councillors elected "at large" - with one Māori ward and one ward elected by voters on the general roll - was the fairest.
It would enable Māori and general electors to vote for 11 out of the 12 councillors and supported the principle of electors voting for the majority of councillors.
She said, however, the history of the council suggested that the downside of many "at large" candidates was they might also challenge for the mayoralty.
"That model does allow for that to happen. You think, 'I've been elected at large, therefore I have a greater mandate perhaps than someone who's representing a smaller area'."
In a report to the council last year, Peter Winder — chairman of the Review and Observer Team brought in to assess the council after internal clashes — had the strong impression the contest for the mayoralty did not end with the election and wondered if the current mix of at-large and ward councillors was a contributing factor to the issues.
He said the council should consider having councillors, except the Māori ward one, elected from a larger number of smaller wards.
In his opinion this would "create a clear and certain mandate from the public and provide a better than even chance of delivering a functional council than the one the team observed".
Tauranga City Council commission chairwoman Anne Tolley. Photo / George Novak
Local electoral officer Warwick Lampp said in his view the two weren't always linked.
Commissioner Stephen Selwood wanted to explore another option that concentrated community interests into wards with a single councillor, such as Arataki being stand-alone rather than part of Mauao.
It contrasted an option proposed that would give a larger Mauao ward three candidates.
Tauranga Moana was made up of regionally based hapū but tangata whenua representative Rohario Murray said Selwood's model had potential.
"We may not get along with others from time to time but when we have to decide on things we are untied as Tauranga Moana.What you are suggesting isn't too far from how we operate in te ao Māori."
Tolley said having one councillor per ward would give equality "if we can make it work".
Review and Observer team chairman Peter Winder. Photo / George Novak
"A Māori ward gets one vote and one vote for mayor and a non-Māori gets one vote and one vote for mayor."
She also believed community boards would be needed to ensure views were heard. The commission decided to let the initial options proposal lie on the table until the next meeting on July 28, allowing for further development of Selwood's idea.
Options will be taken to the community for consultation once settled.
The three initial proposals:
Option one - Mixed model with wards and at large, based on status quo with 12 councillors. This would be made up of six elected from three general wards, five elected at large and one elected from a Māori ward
Option two – Ward-based option with 12 councillors. This would be made up of 11 elected from six general wards and one elected from a Māori ward
Option three - At large option with 12 councillors. This would be made up of 10 elected from at large, one elected from a general ward and one elected from a Māori ward
