Agenda of Ordinary Council Meeting

Terms of reference – Council

Membership

Chairperson	Mayor Tenby Powell
Deputy chairperson	Cr Tina Salisbury
Members	Cr Jako Abrie Cr Larry Baldock Cr Kelvin Clout Cr Bill Grainger Cr Andrew Hollis Cr Heidi Hughes Cr Dawn Kiddie Cr Steve Morris Cr John Robson
Quorum	Half of the members physically present, where the number of members (including vacancies) is even; and a majority of the members physically present, where the number of members (including vacancies) is odd.
Meeting frequency	Six weekly or as required for Annual Plan, Long Term Plan and other relevant legislative requirements.

Role

· To ensure the effective and efficient governance of the City

· To enable leadership of the City including advocacy and facilitation on behalf of the community.

Scope

· Oversee the work of all committees and subcommittees.

· Exercise all non-delegable and non-delegated functions and powers of the Council.

· The powers Council is legally prohibited from delegating include:

o Power to make a rate.

o Power to make a bylaw.

o Power to borrow money, or purchase or dispose of assets, other than in accordance with the long-term plan.

o Power to adopt a long-term plan, annual plan, or annual report

o Power to appoint a chief executive.

o Power to adopt policies required to be adopted and consulted on under the Local Government Act 2002 in association with the long-term plan or developed for the purpose of the local governance statement.

o All final decisions required to be made by resolution of the territorial authority/Council pursuant to relevant legislation (for example: the approval of the City Plan or City Plan changes as per section 34A Resource Management Act 1991).

· Council has chosen not to delegate the following:

o Power to compulsorily acquire land under the Public Works Act 1981.

· Make those decisions which are required by legislation to be made by resolution of the local authority.

· Authorise all expenditure not delegated to officers, Committees or other subordinate decision-making bodies of Council.

· Make appointments of members to the CCO Boards of Directors/Trustees and representatives of Council to external organisations.

· Consider any matters referred from any of the Standing or Special Committees, Joint Committees, Chief Executive or General Managers.

Procedural matters

· Delegation of Council powers to Council’s committees and other subordinate decision-making bodies.

· Adoption of Standing Orders.

· Receipt of Joint Committee minutes.

· Approval of Special Orders.

· Employment of Chief Executive.

· Other Delegations of Council’s powers, duties and responsibilities.

Regulatory matters

Administration, monitoring and enforcement of all regulatory matters that have not otherwise been delegated or that are referred to Council for determination (by a committee, subordinate decision-making body, Chief Executive or relevant General Manager).

UNCONFIRMED Emergency Council Meeting Minutes

21 August 2020

MINUTES

Emergency Council Meeting

Friday, 21 August 2020

Order of Business

1 Apologies. 3

2 Acceptance of Late Items. 3

3 Confidential Business to be Transferred into the Open. 3

4 Change to the Order of Business. 3

5 Declaration of Conflicts of Interest 3

6 Business. 4

6.1 Governance Issues and Forward Plan. 4

7 Discussion of Late Items. 5

MINUTES OF Tauranga City Council

EMERGENCY Council Meeting

HELD AT THE Tauranga City Council, Council Chambers, 91 Willow Street, Tauranga

ON Friday, 21 August 2020 AT 9.30am

PRESENT: Mayor Tenby Powell (Chairperson), Cr Tina Salisbury (Deputy Chairperson), Cr Jako Abrie, Cr Larry Baldock, Cr Kelvin Clout, Cr Bill Grainger, Cr Andrew Hollis, Cr Heidi Hughes, Cr Dawn Kiddie (by Skype), Cr Steve Morris, Cr John Robson

IN ATTENDANCE: Marty Grenfell (Chief Executive), Barbara Dempsey (General Manager: Regulatory & Compliance), Susan Jamieson (General Manager: People & Engagement), Nic Johansson (General Manager: Infrastructure), Christine Jones (General Manager: Strategy & Growth), Nick Swallow (Manager: Legal & Commercial), Avon Adams (Manager: Communications & Engagement), Carlo Ellis (Manager: Strategic Māori Engagement), Ross Boreham (Communications & Engagement Consultant), Coral Hair (Manager: Democracy Services), Josh Te Kani (Kaiarahi Māori), Robyn Garrett (Team Leader: Committee Support), Raj Naidu (Committee Advisor), Jenny Teeuwen (Committee Advisor).

Josh Te Kani, Kaiarahi Māori, provided a karakia to open the meeting.

1 Apologies

Nil

2 Acceptance of Late Items

Nil

3 Confidential Business to be Transferred into the Open

Nil

4 Change to the Order of Business

Nil

5 Declaration of Conflicts of Interest

It was noted that all councillors could be perceived as having a conflict of interest in that the decisions made could have repercussions on councillor remuneration. Cr Robson declared that any impact on remuneration would not place him in a position of conflict.

Mayor Powell declared that he did not consider there was a conflict of interest with his being a member of any military organisation or society.

6 Business

6.1 Governance Issues and Forward Plan

Staff Marty Grenfell, Chief Executive

Key points

· Recent events with elected members had attracted the attention of the Minister of Local Government (the Minister) and had undermined confidence in the ability of the current Council to govern effectively.

· The Chief Executive had received a letter from the Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) which requested further information and reassurance that Council could still perform effectively; and that the relationship issues within Council were not preventing effective governance of the city.

· The various measures available to the Minister and DIA to intervene in Council governance if required were outlined, and ranged from the appointment of a Review team through to the appointment of a Commission.

· The preferred option was for a Council appointed independent Review and Observer Team to be formed and report back to Council and to DIA.

· The Chief Executive had to provide an answer to DIA by the end of the day about what course of action was to be taken.

In response to questions

· Terms of Reference would need to be determined for the Review and Observer Team.

· The Review and Observer Team could be present at informal meetings as well as formal; and could liaise with DIA at any time deemed appropriate. It was up to the Minister to determine how quickly there was a need to respond or intervene.

Discussion points raised

· Residents and ratepayers had a right to be concerned about the actions and behaviour of their elected members.

· Remedial actions should focus on restoration of relationships between the Mayor and councillors and amongst councillors. All elected members should be committed to working alongside each other for the benefit of the community.

· Council should initiate its own process rather than wait for intervention from the Minister.

· The scope and breadth of the Terms of Reference of the Review and Observer Team would be critical to the success of the process.

· Each councillor needed to take responsibility for their own actions and contribution to the current situation; independent professional support would be welcomed.

· Issues were not with decisions made in Chambers but with behaviour and informal relationships outside Chambers. There was no concern regarding behaviour between councillors and staff; generally, behaviour in Chambers was professional and decisions were made.

· Need to be able to dissent without fear of retaliation; diversity of opinion should be viewed as a strength.

· The public should be able to review the information released under the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 (LGOIMA) requests and make up their own minds regarding individual councillor behaviour.

· Councillors were elected to serve the community not themselves, and needed to work together to avoid undermining the Council and the city.

· It was expected that the Review and Observer Team would call out bad behaviour regardless of where it originated from.

Resolution CO21/20/1

Moved: Mayor Tenby Powell

Seconded: Cr Larry Baldock

That the Council:

(a) Receives report “Governance Issues and Forward Plan”.

(b) Agrees that Council initiated action to address the issue of Elected Member relationships is the most appropriate pathway.

(d) Requests the Chief Executive report back to Council as soon as practicable with draft Terms of Reference, recommended appointees, cost estimate and budget approval request.

Carried

7 Discussion of Late Items

Nil.

The meeting closed at 10.20am.

The minutes of this meeting were confirmed at the meeting of the Tauranga City Council held on 2 September 2020.

...................................................

CHAIRPERSON


AGENDA Ordinary Council Meeting Wednesday, 2 September 2020
I hereby give notice that an Ordinary Meeting of Council will be held on:
Date:	Wednesday, 2 September 2020
Time:	9.30am
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