Late Reports Agenda of Ordinary Council Meeting

16 June 2020

1.5 Appointment of Chairs and Deputy Chairs of Committees and Smartgrowth Leadership Group appointees and Remuneration

File Number: A11545268

Author: Marty Grenfell, Chief Executive

Authoriser: Marty Grenfell, Chief Executive

Purpose of the Report

1. A letter seeking to remove the Deputy Mayor had been signed by six councillors. Cr Clout, one of the signatories to that letter, has withdrawn his support for the removal of the Deputy Mayor and the election of a new Deputy Mayor. However Cr Clout has not withdrawn his support for the three other additional matters of business set out in the letter. This report sets out the processes for considering these three additional matters under the Local Government Act 2002.

Recommendations

That the Council:

(a) Receives the report “Appointment of Chairs and Deputy Chairs and Smartgrowth Leadership Group appointees and Remuneration”;

(b) Receives the letter of requisition dated 2 June 2020 signed by six Councillors addressed to the Chief Executive to the extent it covers matters other than the removal of the Deputy Mayor;

(c) Receives the letter from Cr Clout dated 12 June 2020 withdrawing support for the removal of the Deputy Mayor and election of a new Deputy Mayor;

(d) Either

(i) Confirms the chairpersons and deputy chairpersons of the standing committees of Tauranga City Council.

(ii) Discharges, in accordance with Clause 31, Schedule 7 of the Local Government Act 2020, the chairpersons and deputy chairpersons of the standing committees of Tauranga City Council appointed by the Mayor under section 41A(3)(c) of the Local Government Act and appoint new chairpersons and deputy chairpersons of the standing committees.

(e) Either

(i) Confirms the delegates to the Smartgrowth Leadership Group (the Mayor, Cr Larry Baldock and Cr Kelvin Clout)

(ii) Discharges, in accordance with Clause 31, Schedule 7 of the Local Government Act 2020, the delegates appointed by the Mayor to the Smartgrowth Leadership Group under section 41A(3)(b) of the Local Government Act 2002 and appoint new delegates. (Note the terms of reference require the Mayor to be appointed)

(f) Depending on the changes as a result of the above resolutions, either

(i) Confirms the remuneration of elected members.

(ii) Alters the remuneration of elected members, subject to approval by the Remuneration Authority.

Executive Summary

2. I have received a letter, dated 2 June 2020, signed by six members of the Council which requested a Council meeting be held on 25 June 2020 to consider the removal the Deputy Mayor and the election of a new Deputy Mayor. There were three additional matters that were raised in the letter. This letter is set out in Attachment 1.

3. One of the signatories to that letter, Cr Kelvin Clout, has withdrawn his support for the removal of the Deputy Mayor and the election of a new Deputy Mayor. Refer to Attachment 2 for the letter signed by Cr Clout, dated 12 June 2020. However Cr Clout has not withdrawn his support for the three other additional matters of business set out in the letter dated 2 June 2020.

4. This report sets out the processes for considering these three additional matters under the Local Government Act 2002.

Background

Deputy Mayor

5. I received a letter signed by six members of the Council which requested a Council meeting be held on 17 June 2020 to consider the removal of Cr Larry Baldock from the position of Deputy Mayor and elected a new Deputy Mayor. Cr Baldock resigned his position and the Mayor appointed Cr Tina Salisbury as Deputy Mayor with effect from 2 June 2020. I received a second letter on 2 June 2020 requesting the removal of the Deputy Mayor at a meeting to be held on 25 June 2020. I gave the required notice to the Mayor and Councillors on 10 June 2020 of the meeting to be held on 25 June 2020.

6. I subsequently received a letter signed by Cr Kelvin Clout, dated 12 June 2020, where he withdrew his support for the removal of the Deputy Mayor and the election of a new Deputy Mayor.

7. This means the requirements for a requisition are not met and accordingly the letter of requisition, dated 2 June 2020, effectively falls over for lack of a majority of councillors in support. As such, the process to remove the Deputy Mayor ceases.

8. The other matters noted above have been treated as a notice of motion, and the process to consider these is set out below.

Appointment of committees and membership of committees

9. The Mayor has powers in section 41A in relation to the appointment of committees, membership of committees and appointment of members to joint committees.

10. Section 41A(4) of the LGA 2002 retains the Council’s democratic ability to make a change to the committee structure, if the majority of Councillors do not agree with the Mayor’s decisions.

11. The letter dated 2 June 2020 does not seek to change the four standing committees (Finance, Audit and Risk Committee, Policy Committee, Projects, Services and Operations Committee, and Urban Form and Transport Development Committee) but does request that the appointment of chairpersons and deputy chairpersons of these standing committees be confirmed or altered.

12. The power for the Council to discharge a chairperson, deputy chairperson or member and appoint another in their place is provided for in clause 31(1) of Schedule 7, LGA 2002.

13. Current chairpersons and deputy chairpersons of the standing committees are:

Committee	Chairperson	Deputy Chairperson
Finance, Audit and Risk Committee	Independent Chairperson Bruce Robertson	Cr Tina Salisbury
Policy Committee	Cr Steve Morris	Cr Dawn Kiddie
Projects, Services and Operations Committee	Cr Kelvin Clout	Cr Jako Abrie
Urban Form and Transport Development Committee	Cr Larry Baldock	Cr Heidi Hughes

Smartgrowth Leadership Group

14. The letter on 2 June 2020 also requests the confirmation or alteration of the delegates to the Smartgrowth Leadership Group (SLG). The SLG is a joint committee and the Mayor has the power to appoint members to joint committees. The SLG previously had four Council appointees from the three councils (TCC, Western Bay of Plenty District Council and the BOP Regional Council) with four iwi representatives and an independent chairperson. In this triennium the council representatives on the SLG have been reduced to three for each council.

15. There are currently three TCC members appointed by the Mayor to the SLG, the Mayor, the Cr Larry Baldock and Cr Kelvin Clout. The terms of reference for the SLG require the Mayor to be one of the members. The Council would need to determine the two appointees (other than the Mayor).

Remuneration

16. The letter of 2 June 2020 also requested that the remuneration schedule for elected members be confirmed or altered. The remuneration is based on the current governance structure and any alteration to the number of committee chairpersons or deputy chairpersons would alter the figures. The appointment of Cr Salisbury as Deputy Mayor does require an alteration to the current remuneration, as it creates an additional committee chairperson’s remuneration.

17. The Remuneration Authority (the Authority) is required to approve the remuneration.

18. In May 2020, new legislation was introduced in response to Covid-19 which allows the Authority to reduce the remuneration in some circumstances for up to six months. At the moment the Authority is preparing a determination to be issued by 30 June 2020, which reduces remuneration for elected members paid over $100,000, based a sliding scale.

19. If the Council wishes to amend the remuneration for elected members it must be amended at this meeting. The Authority has been advised that the Council is considering altering the remuneration for all elected members, which may impact on their determination.

20. The Remuneration Authority determines the mayor’s salary and makes a separate determination on the total size of the councillors’ remuneration pool. This is based on factors including population size. The councillors decide how the pool will be split between them, while considering additional responsibilities such as those in the table below.

21. Current remuneration up to 2 June 2020 is set out below:

Position	Remuneration per annum	Ratio in relation to base councillors salary
Mayor (set by the Remuneration Authority)	$166,500
Deputy mayor(1) Cr Larry Baldock up to 2 June 2020 Cr Tina Salisbury from 2 June 2020	$139,563	1.45
Committee chairperson (2) Crs Clout and Morris Note: from 2 June 2020 (3) Crs Baldock, Clout and Morris	$121,276	1.26
Committee deputy chairperson (4) Crs Abrie, Hughes, Kiddie and Salisbury Note: from 2 June 2020 (3) Crs Abri, Hughes and Kiddie	$108,763	1.13
Councillor with no additional responsibilities (3) Crs Grainger, Hollis and Robson	$96,251	1.00

22. The Authority has developed an excel spreadsheet and any changes to remuneration can be calculated by plugging in data so it is possible to do the calculations on the day of the meeting, once decisions are known that can impact on remuneration. The Council must allocate the entire pool of $1,105,920 per annum.

Strategic / Statutory Context

23. The Local Government Act 2002 has a number of provisions which relate to the issues raised in this report. The relevant LGA 2002 provisions are set out in Attachment 3.

Options Analysis

24. The Council has the option of overturning the s41A Mayoral powers relating to committee structure and committee appointments. A majority of the councillors present and voting will be required to overturn the Mayor’s decisions.

25. The Council has the option of keeping the decisions made by the Mayor.

Financial Considerations

26. There are no financial impacts of the decisions in relation to governance as the costs of this activity are provided for in the budget. Any reductions made by the Authority in their upcoming determination will result in budget underspend in this area.

Legal Implications / Risks

27. The Council has the ability to overturn the Mayor’s decisions in relation to the committee structure and committee appointments to standing and joint committees.

28. There is a risk of reputational damage for the Council during the Covid-19 Emergency.

Consultation / Engagement

29. No public consultation/engagement is required before the council makes a decision on these matters.

Significance

30. The matters raised in this report are not considered to be significant in terms of the Significance and Engagement Policy.

Click here to view the TCC Significance and Engagement Policy

Next Steps

31. Any changes to the chairs and deputy chairs of standing committees, delegates to the Smartgrowth Leadership Group and remuneration will be conveyed to the public and to the relevant organisations.

Attachments

1. Attachment 1 - Request for Council meeting 25 June 2020 to remove deputy mayor - dated 2 June 2020 - A11549948 ⇩

2. Attachment 2 - Letter from Cr Kelvin Clout to CE withdrawing support for removal of Deputy Mayor 12 June 2020 - A11565706 ⇩

3. Attachment 3 - Legislation relating to committee structure and appointments - A11545286 ⇩


AGENDA Late Reports Ordinary Council Meeting Tuesday, 16 June 2020

Date:	Tuesday, 16 June 2020
Time:	11am
Location:	Tauranga City Council Council Chambers 91 Willow Street Tauranga
Please note that this meeting will be livestreamed and the recording will be publicly available on Tauranga City Council's website: www.tauranga.govt.nz.
Marty Grenfell Chief Executive