Kāpiti mayor K Gurunathan. Photo / Jack Penman
Weekly column by Kāpiti mayor K Gurunathan.
The Organisational Review Report will be made public on June 29.
The formal decision on this and the process to land its release will be made at tomorrow's council meeting.
Nobody, except for Martin Jenkins, the consultants undertaking the investigation, will be privy to what the report is going to say.
It was originally scheduled to be released in May but, like a lot of things, it was delayed by the pandemic.
Before its public release there will be two briefings involving elected members and iwi.
The first, on June 15, will be for councillors and the chief executive.
Lead writer of the report, Tom Gott of Martin Jenkins, will provide an overview of the key issues.
Sitting in will be a Simpson Grierson lawyer representing the councillors.
It's not widely appreciated that councillors, as the governance body, employs only one person, the CEO.
The legal advice was sought by me to ensure that we, the employer, meet our obligations to the CEO under the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015.
The process and timing of the release has to ensure the CEO has ample opportunity to view and respond to the Report before its public release.
The process is such that, from the point of its release by Martin Jenkins to Simpson Grierson, and subsequently to the mayor, councillors, iwi, community boards, and the public, there will be no changes to the report. What you get is what it was and is.
The only area the councillors and I overlooked when we workshopped the resolutions at a briefing was our obligations to local iwi.
There are existing protocols underpinning our Treaty partnership.
Again, not many people realise the increasing importance of local governments knowing and acting on their Treaty obligations.
Although Māori are a minority sector when it comes to the numbers game in a democracy, their legal powers defined by the Treaty and embedded in laws like the RMA means they have significant powers over the management of natural resources.
The ToR for the Organisational Review includes the examination of KCDC's relationship with key stakeholders.
Our relationship with local iwi will feature in the report.
My guess is that it will show the same type of generic tensions felt by other councils in their own iwi relationships.
In the current global sense, the question can be framed by whether local iwi are able to secure enough breathing space within a system dominated by a majority culture.
For decades, they have said that in the reality of the post-colonial democratic politics they can't breath. I suspect the Martin Jenkins report could touch on what is now a globally relevant area.
Another potential factor to consider is whether, given the recent global shock delivered by the Covid-19 pandemic, the priority issues for local government organisations have changed.
So much so, the issues the review was required to investigate six to eight months ago could be less relevant now and in the future.
This would have a bearing on a particular area of investigation, i.e. "The capacity and capability of the staff organisation to deliver the council's objectives in a cost effective and efficient manner".
KCDC and its CDEM Covid response, especially its welfare team, witnessed an outstanding organisational performance.
Now, like councils across New Zealand, KCDC faces an inevitable internal reorganisation to engage with the national recovery phase led by MSD.
Will the report identify generic areas of organisational improvement to help face the unique challenges posed by the recovery period?
The Organisational Review Report is set to land at a time when the district, like other councils, face increasing national and local economic challenges.
We don't know what the report will recommend.
What I know is that it will offer opportunities.
How we respond will define our ability to improve as a public service organisation.
