Members failing to turn up at meetings

David Taipari. Photo / Supplied

The first fight was over how much money Auckland Council had to put aside for its Maori advisory board - now questions are being asked about whether members are working hard enough for the cash.

A Herald on Sunday investigation has found poor attendance among Maori members at council committee meetings.

Only three of the unelected Independent Maori Statutory Board's nine members have turned up to all their scheduled Auckland Council committee meetings since February.

One member hasn't attended a single meeting, and others - including the board's chair - have only attended one.

The Maori board was established as part of the Supercity to put forward issues that were significant for Maori and to ensure the council complied with provisions in the Treaty of Waitangi. Board members are assigned council committees to advise on, depending on their areas of knowledge.

The creation of the board drew much negative attention in February when the council's finance committee committed $3.4 million to run it for the 2011-12 financial year. The council hastily reduced this amount to $1.9 million after public uproar.

One member, Anahera Morehu, hasn't been to any of the five committee meetings she was supposed to, though she missed two through being on other council business.

She said timetable clashes with her other roles were to blame - but she wasn't overly concerned at her lack of attendance.

"Not really. I read the minutes and email concerns to the other person who also sits on that committee."

Morehu admitted that sitting in on the meetings would give her a better idea of council goings-on but the board was just "one of the many" commitments she has.

She said most of her time had been committed a year ahead of schedule.

The board's chair, David Taipari, has only attended one out of three council committee meetings.

He said attendance rates would get better as members were able to plan ahead - they had little notice when the board started.

"I can understand that at the time it's not as good attendance as one might want."

Members aren't paid by attendance. They receive an annual fee, $75,000 for the chair, $65,000 for the deputy and $53,000 for the members.

Of the city's councillors, Transport Committee chair Mike Lee missed most meetings.

He said the survey hadn't taken into account other meetings which took up his time, such as Auckland Transport meetings and local board meetings.

"If I'm not present at one meeting, it's probably because I'm at another meeting."

Lee said this week he was booked in at three meetings at once, in the CBD, Henderson and on Waiheke Island.

As well, councillors were under enormous pressure to meet people, as well as attend workshops and briefings and answer an "overwhelming" amount of emails, he said.

Former North Shore Mayor George Wood was the only councillor to attend every meeting.

He was pleased at his attendance record but said it was just part of the job. "It's been an extremely busy six months. It's been go, go, go."

He was concerned at the lack of attendance by the statutory board members.

"I'm aware that they haven't been coming to some of these meetings - it's hard to see what role they're playing for the amount of funding we're forking out for this organisation."

Mayor Len Brown said he had been impressed by the contribution and commitment of board members.