21 April 2020

Media: Local Democracy Reporter

Topic: Petition to freeze rates

Enquiry

I am writing a story, filing tomorrow, regarding a petition calling for parliament to introduce law to compel councils nationwide to defer and freeze/cut rates.

The petition is authored by Reynold Macpherson and he has made some comments specifically referencing Rotorua Lakes Council which I would like to invite the council to reply to.

The council is also most welcome to comment on the petition and its claims generally, if desired.

Comments:

The petition came about because of what was, in his view, the continuing evidence that [the] council is seriously considering a rates rise for 2020/2021 annual plan in a context where ratepayers, and especially businesses are struggling.

[The quarterly rates deferral] was "the very least the council should do" AND "doesn't seem to take account of the, the massive downturn in our economy and that affordability of rates has collapsed."

"That's the very least that council should be considering, given that a lot of people, for example in the CBD, are not able to pay their rent, and when the lockdown is lifted, many of them will be collecting their stock to sell online, and could well be abandoning their retail outlets."

"Every penny that the council does not take out of our economy in rates is available to people to survive and to, hopefully, save their businesses."

Subsequent from reporter:

Another comment I missed sorry -

Regarding the rates deferral (for one quarter) - Councillor Macpherson said "it was the only option on the table" [that's the reason he says he voted for it].

Might not be too important but just in case there was a response to that too.

Response

From Mayor Chadwick:

Petitions are a legitimate democratic tool that people are entitled to use.

The annual plan for 2020/21 is still in development and will be subject to public consultation before being finalised and adopted.

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Media: Local Democracy Reporter

Topic: CE delegated authority during COVID-19 lockdown

Enquiry

Please note this is a follow up to yesterday's enquiry on the same topic [complaint 'requesting reinstatement of local democracy']

As mentioned in my text, here are the additional comments from Reynold regarding the open letter, which I invite the council / mayor to respond to where appropriate.

Comments:

"The open letter to the mayor points out that that delegation of power to the chief executive and therefore the officials should have ended at the moment the legislation changed on participating via Zoom."

"The rationale for the delegations was that the quorum could not include people coming in electronically, via Zoom. And the assurance is given ... the moment that that law was changed - and it was the following day - it would be revoked immediately.

"That moment has come and gone, but the delegation has not been revoked. It's a matter of democratic principle that I've raised as set out in the open letter."

[Regarding a council officer's explanation during the April 3 extraordinary council meeting that the law had changed but the delegation was continued as an extra security measure in case the council couldn't meet:]

Sounds like a rationale for keeping hold of power.

[In response to the idea that if the council all became sick as a result of Covid-19 (for example) and couldn't meet, and therefore the delegation might stand to account for that scenario:]

I don't think there's much to that at all because we can meet now using Zoom. That core issue [quorum] has been resolved. This argument is imagining future scenarios to justify the delegations not being revoked. My point is that democratic decision making in the Act is required to be democratic, and that means revitalising all of our democratic processes. All those meetings that have been cancelled have got to be reinstalled immediately, so that we have decisions being made in a way that the public would regard as legitimate. It's wrong to leave those delegations with the chief executive, because it means ruled by officials. Bureaucracy.

I would say that anybody can invent scenarios. But they are weak justifications for not following what was guaranteed - that is, that these delegations would be revoked the moment the core problem has been solved in law. And it has been.

[Regarding his vote in favour of the motion to continue the delegation - paraphrased:] Councillor Macpherson said he was struggling with the Zoom technology as it was his first time using it and hadn't realised the implications of the decision at the time.

I realised that the original decision to make the delegations to cope with the contingencies was reasonable. Subsequently, the decision to not revoke them was unreasonable.

The informal meetings, and the workshops are all held with [the] public excluded. They are PowerPoint presentations without substantive research behind them. The role of the people at those workshops is to rubber stamp. There's very little opportunity for - because the content of these workshops is never indicated in advance - people to actually think for themselves.

"One example is the Rotorua economic development plan. It was only after that meeting that rubber-stamped it that I was able to get to work and put up a counter proposal that in fact, we should have a Rotorua economic reconstruction strategy, not a plan. There's been no opportunity for that strategy to be discussed, or to revise the Rotorua economic recovery plan that the chief executive officials are flying by right now. So they've got carte-blanche to press ahead.

The plan's workshop will not provide an opportunity to seriously turn back and discuss those issues. The next meeting of council itself is not due until the 30th of May, where we'll be presented with the annual plan for next year, with a budget attached, or the budget assumptions attached. That will be also the public excluded. So the possibility of live-streaming is nil. There's no real public transparency and no public accountability.

[Regarding the informal meetings of the council during lockdown]

[They are] simply presentations by officials and some degree of questioning is tolerated. People are then asked if you broadly agree with this, and a lot of the people in the room, just sort of nodded through, and there is no debate permitted. Anytime it looks like there's going to be a debate over key issues, the officials running the meeting shut it down. It's not democratic decision making at all.

There are no papers that have come out in advance. It's impossible to generate alternative ideas to those being presented by officials. This hidden, secret approach is only possible if the public is excluded.

I can't speak about the content of any of these workshops, without facing a complaint that I had violated the elected representatives code of conduct. I'm muzzled.

Councillor Macpherson said all committee and community board meetings should resume as normal so that formal, democratic decision-making could start up again.

Response

Mayor Chadwick declined to comment further.

The following information was provided to the reporter as clarification re the resolutions passed and annual plan process:

On 25 March Council approved extended delegations for the CE until Council next meets at which time the Extended Delegations will automatically be revoked unless Council resolves otherwise at that meeting (see the full resolution below).

At the next Council meeting, on 3 April, Council agreed to extend the delegations further, until the Covid-19 Alert Level 4 is lifted at which time the Extended Delegations will automatically be revoked unless Council resolves otherwise (see the full resolution below).

Both resolutions included reference to the Chief Executive has committed to exercising the Extended Delegations in accordance with the following guideline process and outlined that guideline process (see the full resolutions below).

The delegations have not been used to date.

No councillors asked for votes against to be noted on either occasion.

The next Full Council meeting coming up is next Thursday, 30 April (I note in the comments you quote Cr Macpherson referring to the next meeting being on 30 May).

Regarding annual planning, some councillors haven't been involved in this process before so might be unfamiliar with it but when a draft annual plan and consultation document are put before elected members for their consideration and approval to go out to consultation, that is done in public. Feel free to check this from previous years.

Feedback from consultation is taken into consideration before the annual plan is finalised and approved and the rates are struck. Approval of the final plan and striking of the rates is also done in public.

The following are the resolutions referred to above:

25 March:

8.1 RECOMMENDATION 3: DECISION MAKING DURING COVID-19: DELEGATIONS TO CHIEF EXECUTIVE

RESOLVED

1. That the report Decision Making During Covid-19: Delegations To Chief Executive' be received

Cr Tapsell/Cr Yates CARRIED

2. That the Council extends the Chief Executive's current delegations (detailed in the Council's Delegations Manual) to include all of Council's responsibilities, duties, and powers currently retained by Council or delegated to Council's standing committees (except the District Licensing Committee) (Extended Delegations), subject to the following requirements:

a) The Extended Delegations will have effect only for the period from the date of this meeting until Council next meets at which time the Extended Delegations will automatically be revoked unless Council resolves otherwise at that meeting.

b) The Extended Delegations do not include a delegation of any Council powers, duties and functions which are prohibited by law from delegation - including, without limitation, those set out in clause 32(1) of the Seventh Schedule to the Local Government Act 2002.

3. That the Council approves, for the avoidance of doubt, that the Extended Delegations may and will be exercised by an acting Chief Executive, appointed from time to time by the Chief Executive, in the event the Chief Executive is unable to act.

4. That the Council notes that the Chief Executive has committed to exercising the Extended Delegations in accordance with the following guideline process:

a) The Chief Executive will exercise any one or all of the Extended Delegations from time to time only after first consulting with the Mayor (or Deputy Mayor) and Chair (or Deputy Chair) of the relevant committee where reasonably practicable and subject to their availability.

b) The Chief Executive will not exercise the Extended Delegations unless he had first made all reasonable endeavors to achieve the consultation measures identified in (a) above.

c) Where, in the reasonable opinion of the Chief Executive, a decision requiring the exercise of the Extended Delegations could be deferred without any material consequences, the Chief Executive may elect to not exercise the Extended Delegations, and instead defer the decision until the next full Council meeting.

d) The Chief Executive will advise Councillors, Te Tatau o Te Arawa and Community Board members appointed to the relevant committee of each decision to exercise of the Extended Delegations as soon as reasonably possible once it has been made.

e) The Chief Executive shall keep a running record of all occasions where the Extended Delegations have been exercised and shall remain accountable to elected members for the proper and prudent exercise of the Extended Delegations.

f) The Chief Executive shall provide an overall report of the exercise of the Extended Delegations at the next full meeting of Council as described in 4 (d) and (e) above.

Cr Donaldson\Mayor Chadwick CARRIED C20/3/16

3 April:

3.1. RECOMMENDATION 1: DECISION MAKING DURING COVID-19: DELEGATIONS TO CHIEF EXECUTIVE

RESOLVED

1. That the report titled Decision Making During Covid-19: Delegations To Chief Executive' be received Cr Raukawa-Tait/Cr Yates CARRIED

Further Resolved

2. That Council extends the Chief Executive's current delegations (detailed in the Council's Delegations Manual) to include all of Council's responsibilities, duties, and powers currently retained by Council or delegated to Council's standing committees (except the District Licensing Committee) (Extended Delegations), subject to the following requirements:

a) The Extended Delegations will have effect only for the period from the date of this meeting until the Covid-19 Alert Level 4 is lifted at which time the Extended Delegations will automatically be revoked unless Council resolves otherwise.

b) The Extended Delegations do not include a delegation of any Council powers, duties and functions which are prohibited by law from delegation - including, without limitation, those set out in clause 32(1) of the Seventh Schedule to the Local Government Act 2002.

3. That the Council approves, for the avoidance of doubt, that the Extended Delegations may and will be exercised by an acting Chief Executive, appointed from time to time by the Chief Executive, in the event the Chief Executive is unable to act.

4. That the Council notes that the Chief Executive has committed to exercising the Extended Delegations in accordance with the following guideline process:

a) The Chief Executive will exercise any one or all of the Extended Delegations from time to time only after first consulting with the Mayor (or Deputy Mayor) and Chair (or Deputy Chair) of the relevant committee where reasonably practicable and subject to their availability.

b) The Chief Executive will not exercise the Extended Delegations unless he had first made all reasonable endeavours to achieve the consultation measures identified in (a) above.

c) Where, in the reasonable opinion of the Chief Executive, a decision requiring the exercise of the Extended Delegations could be deferred without any material consequences, the Chief Executive may elect to not exercise the Extended Delegations, and instead defer the decision until the next full Council meeting.

d) The Chief Executive will advise Councillors, Te Tatau o te Arawa and Community Board members appointed to the relevant committee of each decision to exercise of the Extended Delegations as soon as reasonably possible once it has been made.

e) The Chief Executive shall keep a running record of all occasions where the Extended Delegations have been exercised and shall remain accountable to elected members for the proper and prudent exercise of the Extended Delegations.

f) The Chief Executive shall provide an overall report of the exercise of the Extended Delegations at the next full meeting of Council as described in 4 (d) and (e) above.

Cr Yates/Mayor Chadwick CARRIED C20/04/18

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Media: NZME (Rotorua Daily Post and BOP Times)

Topic: Impounded and re-homed dogs during lockdown

Enquiry

Could I please get the number of dogs that have been placed into the Rotorua Dog Pound since lockdown began?

Can I please also get the number of dogs that have been adopted over this time frame?

Response

From Animal Control team lead Dylan Wright:

There have been three rehomes during the Alert Level 4 phase. These rehomes have come about from people in the community who put up their hand to foster prior to Alert Level 4 and have decided to make the dogs a permanent part of their family.

It would have been nice to be able to rehome more dogs during this time however due to the Alert regulations our officers have not been able to carry out home inspections which are an important part of the rehoming process.

Unfortunately animal control call outs have not slowed down during Alert Level 4 which is disappointing considering most people are at home and should know where their dogs are. These call outs have resulted in 38 impounds during this Alert phase. A large number of dogs have also been returned to owners but have resulted in an infringement notices being issued as Council is taking a zero tolerance approach during this time.

Things for dog owners to remember during Alert Levels

• Maintain a 2m distance from others. Using a lead at all times helps to maintain this distance.
• Keep your walks safe and close to home.

Don't forget your bags. Please pick up your dog poo and take it home with you

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Media: RotoruaNow

Topic: ANZAC Day planning

Enquiry

I'm doing a story on Anzac Day and was wondering if the mayor would like to comment?

Is the RLC Anzac Committee still going? As she is the chair.

I'm speaking to the RSA about the Stand At Dawn campaign and also the national virtual dawn service.

Any comment would be appreciated.

Response

The Reporter received a copy of the news release that was issued today regarding ANZAC Day in Rotorua this year (see HERE)

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Media: Radio NZ

Topic: Lockdown breaches

Enquiry

The reporter requested comment as to whether there has been a noticeable increase in people in the council area coming out of isolation/breaching restrictions as the lockdown comes to an end.

Question - We're trying to get a feel for whether people are being less stringent with lockdown restrictions in the last few days. Don't need numbers as such, but whether public areas are busier etc

Response

From Rotorua Lakes Council's, Emergency Operations Centre Controller, Bruce Horne:

Over the past week some breaches have been detected, but Rotorua Lakes Council's security patrols have not noticed a significant increase in behaviour that breaches Alert Level 4 restrictions.

Where people are potentially breaching level 4 restrictions, our security patrollers have reminded them of their obligations under Alert level 4. On most occasions an educational' approach and a reminder about why it is so important to follow the rules has the desired effect. People who breach a second time after being warned are referred to the police.

Examples of breaches include people using their vehicles to transport bikes to recreational areas, groups of people meeting with others from outside of their bubble' and walking through the inner city, rough sleepers moving back into the city at night and some people accessing their non-essential business premises in town.

We cannot stress strongly enough how important it is that people follow the instructions given by the Prime Minister yesterday. Overall great progress has been made in reducing the incidence of COVID-19, but it has required many people to make some significant sacrifices. It is really important that we maintain our discipline for a few more weeks in order to get the result we all need for the safety and well-being of our community. We must not become complacent. It is extremely important that we continue to adhere to Alert Level 4 restrictions until Tuesday next week and then maintain our vigilance throughout Alert Level 3. In particular it is important that people resist the temptation to meet up with friends or have social gatherings in their homes. That sort of behaviour has the potential to ignite a new cluster of community transmission and undo all the good work that has been done to date.