Following the decision by Local Government Minister, Hon. Nanaia Mahuta, to replace Tauranga City Council's elected members with a team of four commissioners, the chairwoman Anne Tolley has taken the reins of the city and hopes to steer it in a new direction.
But before the commission can do anything, she says, it needs to regain the trust of the public.
"I've had a morning out in the CBD and it was really sad actually to hear that no one has confidence that the council had made the right decisions, could make the right decisions, had done the right things, or could even complete projects," Tolley said.
Preparations for the city's Long-Term Plan will be the commission's first major challenge.
"We've got a very short time to lead into that – we've put the dates out by a month to make sure we get good time to talk to the community. The main challenge is making sure the community has a voice, understands what we're doing and why we're making the decisions that we're making and how it's going to affect them."
