KEY POINTS:
Whangarei Mayor Stan Semenoff has started his latest reign with sweeping changes - a new deputy mayor and smaller standing committees.
Mr Semenoff, three-term mayor between 1989 and 1998, said it was "abundantly clear" that the 13,000 people who voted for him (a majority of more than 6000 votes) had given him "a mandate to establish a very precise and clear political culture and decision-making framework for Whangarei District Council over the next three years".
Kahu Sutherland, who first stood for the council as part of Mr Semenoff's Progress Team in 1998, is the new deputy mayor, replacing Phil Halse, who was deputy under Pamela Peters.
Mr Semenoff said Mr Sutherland had been chosen as deputy mayor for many reasons.
"But the most important is that he is a born leader, as those who work with him know, and his skill base in this area is very high," Mr Semenoff said.
In another move, the number of councillors on each standing committee - works and services, environmental services, and community enterprises - has been cut to seven, from the full 14 councillors who had been members of each committee.
The mayor has also reinstated the council's audit and finance standing committee, which was scrapped under Mrs Peters.
"The people who elected me made it clear that they expect to see a strong culture of us, not them and us.
"Us means voters, elected representatives, staff and the mayor all working together, taking the waka in the same direction," Mr Semenoff said.
"And the time is now if we want to make Whangarei a Tauranga or a Mt Maunganui.
"The costs of indecision and wasting staff time with ineffective and hesitant political decision-making are high. The political culture must be right so we can hand over to staff to do it right."
While Mr Halse has lost the deputy mayor's job - and the $59,495 salary - he has retained his chairmanship of the works and services committee.
Mr Semenoff said Mr Halse kept the position because of his long-standing involvement with works and services and knowledge of the subject matter. "He gets the job done and takes no prisoners," Mr Semenoff said.
The mayor said he would keep a close watch on environmental services, one of the council's "most difficult departments to deal with".
- Northern Advocate
