You may have read this article in the Herald re Councillor attendance at workshops and council meetings
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12156847
Having been elected by the residents and ratepayers of Auckland, I think the very least one should do is turn up to meetings. If you don’t, you cannot in my opinion, do your job properly and successfully input into the decisions and decision making direction of this Council
There are a couple of points I’d like to clarify re my attendance and participation
First the number of committees I attend.
It’s not 5 as mentioned. One of the few delegations the mayor has is to set committees and determine who should sit on what. Unlike some councillors I have never refused to be part of a committee when asked.
The various Council Committees I am on are as follows;
Governing Body ( all councillors)
Finance and Performance ( deputy chair- all councillors)
Environment and Community ( all councillors)
Planning ( all councillors)
Appointment and Performance and Value for Money
Domain Committee
Ngati Whatua Reserves Board
Hauraki Gulf Forum ( alternate)
Quality Advice Political Advisory Group ( chair)
Second – my attendance at workshops was noted as 97% ( 95% plus 2% on Council business)
The reason this isn’t higher is that in three cases, the workshop was scheduled to finish at a certain time, and didn’t it went over time. My councillor support person who manages my diary, had booked other meetings for me following these and made commitments for me to attend. If I had stayed on I would have been late or missed them.
I stand by my commitment I made to all the communities and residents of the Orakei ward when I said I would work hard on your behalf. I’m hoping both the Herald article and my associated explanations help prove that.