As the end of 2019 draws to a close, the beginning of the new council term gears up. Mayor Goff has met with all his councillors and has drawn up the new meeting structure for this, the fourth Auckland Council. We now have five main committees of the whole. Three of these were as before — the governing body (chaired by the mayor), the finance and performance committee, and the planning committee. Along with these, we now have two new ones, the environment and climate change committee looking at environmental and climate change activities, and a community committee looking at community, social and cultural activities. There are also a number of other committees feeding into the above. Of special mention are two new ones, the council-controlled organisation (CCO) oversight committee, and the value for money committee.
CCOs control approximately 75 per cent of our business, and legislation allows that. My understanding is that the thinking behind that was that independent professional directors would be better placed than politicians to run significant parts of council business. Whilst the theory has merit, the practice has seen much of the CCO delivery performed in such a way that Aucklanders and politicians have no ‘control’ at all. The new CCO oversight committee will set policy relating to CCO governance, have insight into their strategy and direction, and monitor their performance. The mayor has also appointed a councillor to sit on each CCO — in Auckland Transport’s case, two councillors — not as directors, as that would potentially compromise their focus, but as observers with speaking rights.
Value for money is the second new committee. Although this work stream started last term, the mayor was previously unable to get support for this to be an entity of its own (I think I was the only one who supported him on this). But with this works programme realising $270 million of efficiencies in just two years, he now has that support. This committee ensures the pro-active assessment of money saving opportunities, and considers the cost effectiveness of the governance, funding and delivery across the council group.
One of the few things the mayor can do completely on his own is set the structure and name the chairs of those committees. In my case he has asked me to chair finance and performance. Feeding into this is the strategic procurement committee and the CCO oversight committee. He has also asked me to chair the value for money committee, which reports into the mayor’s own committee, the governing body. On top of that, my responsibilities include being chair of the Domain committee, which with the boundary changes now is within the Ōrākei ward, and taking the role of deputy chair of the Ngāti Whātua Reserves Board, a member of the CCO oversight committee and a member of the Town Hall Organ Trust. It’s a big workload but I’m up for the challenge.
Working alongside councillors are, of course, our local boards. Unlike council committees, local boards choose their own chairs and deputies. I am pleased to announce that Scott Milne was unanimously voted in as chair of the Ōrākei Local Board, supported by Sarah Powrie and Troy Elliot sharing the deputy chair roles over the next three years.
For the Waitematā Local Board, Richard Northey was unanimously voted in as chairman, with Kerrin Leoni and Alexandra Bonham as deputy chairs respectively. You are well served with elected members committed to listen to you, your concerns and feedback and deliver improvements in many areas.
On a personal note, I will welcome my third grandchild in early 2020. It’s always a tangible reminder as to the importance of my decisions, not just for today but for our future generations to come.