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One of Auckland s longest-serving councillors and former mayor Christine Fletcher has questioned mayor Phil Goff s leadership appointments, claiming he is inclined to run [the council] as a bit of a boys club at times , which the mayor strongly rejects.
Auckland Mayor Phil Goff
Photo: RNZ / Dan Cook
Fletcher s comments follow Goff s nomination of planning committee chair Chris Darby as the council representative on the government s establishment unit board for the Auckland light rail project.
When Fletcher asked at the 29 April governing body meeting whether he might instead appoint a female councillor to the role, Goff quipped: For heaven s sake, you ve got the prime minister, the chief justice and the governor-general, are you going to leave the guys with something?
Local government review: We need to make the most of this opportunity - Gwynn Compton
27 Apr, 2021 01:24 AM
3 minutes to read
Kapiti News
Kāpiti councillor Gwynn Compton has urged the local government review to come up with bold ideas to tackle the systemic issues facing the sector and for all options to be on the table including amalgamations .
Local Government Minister Nanaia Mahuta has announced an independent review of local government which would focus on how the country s system of local democracy needs to evolve over the next 30 years. I have asked the review panel to consider what local government does, how it does it, and how it pays for it, Mahuta said.
Report from LDR
A review of local government aims to make New Zealand’s councils “fit for the future” and weather massive imminent change in the sector. Minister Nanaia Mahuta launched the “Future for Local Government” initiative in Lower Hutt today.
Mahuta said a review panel would review what “local government does, how it does it, and how it pays for it”.
Jim Palmer, the former CEO of Waimakariri District Council in Canterbury, will chair the panel. It also includes Penny Hulse, former deputy mayor of the Auckland “super city”; John Ombler, controller of the all-of-Government Covid-19 response; Gael Surgenor, Auckland Council general manager of community and social innovation, and Antoine Coffin, a director of a consultancy specialising in Tangata Whenua relationships.