Mayor Wayne Brown has revealed his new council structure. Photo / Michael Craig
Mayor Wayne Brown has revealed his new council structure. Photo / Michael Craig
Mayor Wayne Brown today revealed which Auckland councillors will lead the key decision making groups that will now oversee Auckland Council’s operations.
Brown has spent nearly a month re-organising Auckland Council’s committee structure into what he hopes will be a more efficient team that can make quick decisions.
The committees serve important roles allowing councillors to act as representatives of city ratepayers in overseeing the actions of council staff.
Brown will act as chairman of the governing body - which all councillors sit on - and has proposed that it take over most of the functions of the old finance committee, formerly chaired by Desley Simpson, who has been appointed deputy mayor.
It will retain responsibility for the annual plan, budget, long-term plan and monitoring the financial performance of the Auckland Council group, including Council-Controlled Organisations (CCOs) and the port.
The powered-up governing body will give Brown greater control and accountability for the city’s finances. As mayor he is responsible for the budget, but past mayors Len Brown and Phil Goff have had a separate finance committee.
Brown will establish an expenditure control committee, akin to a razor gang, to conduct a forensic line-by-line analysis of spending at the council and wider council group to make recommendations for next year’s budget, which has a $270 million hole, journalist Bernard Orsman reported today.
The mayor’s media team later said the committee has been given until the end of March next year to identify savings for the 2023/2024 budget.
Brown defended the committee, saying he had selected its members to both make savings while ensuring essential services are protected.
Auckland councillor Richard Hills. Photo / Dean Purcell
Councillors Maurice Williamson and Greg Sayers will lead the committee.
Auckland councillors Richard Hills and John Watson are also set to be the other big winners from the new committee structure Brown has proposed.
Hills will chair the planning, environment and parks committee with Angela Dalton as his deputy and Watson will chair the transport and infrastructure committee with Christine Fletcher as his deputy.
The planning, environment and parks committee will be responsible for creating plans to guide and manage Auckland’s growth, including its urban and housing development, as well as its environment and parks.
The transport and infrastructure committee will oversee a change of approach at Auckland Transport and “address the current public-transport crisis”, Brown’s media team said.
Auckland mayor Wayne Brown watches as his deputy Desley Simpson signs herself in as a councillor. Photo / Supplied
Other committees include the CCO direction and oversight committee, led by councillors Wayne Walker and Shane Henderson, and the regulatory and safety committee, led by Josephine Bartley and Ken Turner.
A performance and appointments committee, led by councillors Daniel Newman and Chris Darby, will oversee the chief executive’s performance, review current CCO and port directors, and make appointments to fill vacancies.
Councillors Sharon Stewart and Kerrin Leoni will lead the civil defence and emergency management committee and councillor Lotu Fuli will be the senior councillor on the audit & risk committee, which is required to have an independent chairperson.
Negotiations are also under way for members of the Independent Māori Statutory Board (IMSB) to meaningfully participate in the new governing body/finance committee structure.
