26 March 2021
Media: Local Democracy Reporter
Topic: Elected member workshops
Enquiry
After last week's article about workshops, I'm filing a more in depth piece about the issue more nationally today.
I'm keen to hear what the mayor thinks about some of the points made by the people I have spoken with:
- What's her view on closed-door workshops/forums - should they always be closed, always be open, or a combination? Why / why not?
- Does she think the LGOIMA needs reform to clarify the rules around non-formal meetings? Why / why not?
- Does she support the call for a royal commission into local government? Why / why not?
I also invite the council as an organisation to comment for right of reply on any of these comments below. They're not necessarily directly critical of RLC but the issue did arise because of Mr Adams' complaint to the Ombudsman, so the council is welcome to reply if there's a desire to.
Victoria University of Wellington associate professor of law Dean Knight says closed-door workshops are a "known and troubling black hole in the transparency framework."
"Deliberative committees are where the action is and we should not put the spurious label of a workshop on it to avoid the public gaze.
He says the issue is widespread and has troubled him "for a while".
"[Local Government Minister Nanaia] Mahuta should be really concerned by this."
The law has established a "really good regime" around meetings, "making sure they are done transparently and so the public can engage in them".
However, it defined meetings around whether a formal decision was made in them, which "opened the door" for the utilisation of "workshops" and "forums" where formal decisions were not made, but policy debated, he says.
"The problem comes because those workshops have been almost made systemic. Rather than being the exception they have become the rule."
It's "raw and naked debate" that gives democracy its legitimacy, he says, adding if the public sees the full process, they're more likely to tolerate a decision, because they understand how the decision has been arrived at.
"Hiding in the shadows ... is problematic. It's not the ethos of local democracy."
Massey University's head of public relations Dr Chris Galloway says
"The justice system is based on open justice. That means justice is not only done but is to be seen to be done. The same is true with democracy. The default should be that it's an open forum unless there is a good reason for it not to be."
He says reputations are "built on perceptions of trustworthiness" and doing things behind closed doors, justified or not, can have a negative impact on the perception of councils.
"New Zealanders are well used to councillors having a go at each other."
Kāpiti District councillor Gwynn Compton -
In November last year Compton called for a royal commission on local government that would represent a wholesale reassessment of how the sector worked.
Talking to Local Democracy Reporting this week, Compton says closed-door workshops "fuel a sense of distrust and scepticism" among the public.
"That's not a particularly healthy thing when you're trying to get people to engage in local government.
"The whole idea of local democracy is that you have difficult discussions in public.
"There's a bit of a fear in the sector, they're afraid about local democracy looking a bit messy."
Compton says looking a bit messy is a good thing and people need to see the "journey" it takes to arrive at a decision.
"It shows people [that] different points of view are being debated.
"There's meant to be that tension between opposing points of view."
The former banker and public relations professional says the royal commission could include a rethink of the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 (LGOIMA).
He says the Act had to be more specific as there were varying interpretations of it among councils, and so "the whole decision-making process gets played out in public".
Horowhenua District councillor Sam Jennings also wants a royal commission.
A lawyer by trade, the first-term councillor says closed-door meetings have been "a bit of a hobby horse" since he entered office in 2019.
"It really has struck me how many really important, substantive directions occur behind closed doors."
He says the discussion that goes on in confidential workshops results in council meetings that are "very vanilla" and just a rubber-stamping process.
He says workshops should be, by default, open to the public, and closed only when there is a "good reason" - such as the provisions for public-excluded that apply to formal meetings.
Jennings says it's important for the public not just to see the direction elected members are giving council staff, but also what staff are not being directed to do.
"And what happens if there isn't consensus? The public workshop allows people to see the difference in opinion. It gives people more ability to engage and understand."
Another problematic aspect of closed-door workshops was that it meant there was no formal record of the direction elected members gave to staff, he says.
Some might argue there is a "chilling effect" on free and frank discussion if it is held in public but Jennings doesn't buy that.
"If you're elected to public office, you've got to be accountable for your decisions and your comments. It doesn't mean you can't change your position down the track."
He says in his opinion there is a tendency in public bodies in New Zealand to not trust the public and a desire to "control the flow of information" and where people have to ask for information, rather than organisations proactively releasing it.
"We don't trust [the public] to understand information. I honestly think that's wrong."
He had heard conversations where public officials or elected members would suggest not having conversations in writing because of the risk of official information requests.
He says LGOIMA reform would be "a good place to start" but he preferred Compton's idea of a royal commission.
"We need to start from a big picture review. Some stuff's got to change."
Response
From Mayor Steve Chadwick:
Workshops enable elected members to gain in-depth understanding and background of issues and challenges so that we are able to be effective representatives of our community by contributing to informed debate and decision-making on their behalf. That is part of our democratic responsibility as elected representatives.
Elected members represent the community in many different ways, including in workshops where the likes of long-term plans and the direction these should take and issues they should address are discussed. What emerges from these workshops, including information and direction that was provided, becomes public via formal meetings where proposals are presented and decisions are made following further discussion and debate.
A good recent local example is the proposed community safety action plan that is now part of our proposed long-term plan following a lengthy long-term plan workshop.
Transparency is absolutely important and in recent years the council has introduced many additional ways for people to stay up to date and engage with Council work and decision-making.
How elected members will work together and conduct themselves in their roles as representatives of the community - which includes how workshops will be conducted - is agreed by them following elections and becomes public in the form of a Governance Statement and Code of Conduct. I'm happy with that process.
From Corporate Planning and Governance Manager Oonagh Hopkins:
We are very aware of the community's need and desire for council information and communication.
Transparency is important to us and we have in recent years made a concerted effort to increase the amount of information and communication that goes out to the community.
We have introduced additional ways for people to stay up-to-date about council work and understand decision-making including livestreaming of committee and Council meetings, a weekly e-panui people can subscribe to, our quarterly Tatau Tatau magazine, increasing the frequency of updates on projects and work programmes on our website, providing public access to media enquiries/responses and LGOIMA requests/responses via our website, and the introduction of the Let's Talk/Korero Mai platform which is used to gather feedback during consultation and to keep the community up to date with projects.
We are also partnering and engaging more with iwi and our community, working directly with relevant stakeholders to enable direct input into proposals and decision-making about work and initiatives that affect them.