8 June 2020

Media: Rotorua Daily Post

Topic: Cr Tania Tapsell nominated for National

Enquiry

You would have seen the news by now about Tania Tapsell.

I was wanting to check on whether the council would want to/has the power to overturn the Local Electoral Act and instead appoint the 11th place getter should a replacement be needed for Tania Tapsell, for the sake of saving ratepayers' money.

The 11th place getter, Patricia Hosking, has suggested that if this were to be the case, the council should seriously consider this option as the community is now pre-occupied with recovering from Covid-19 economic crisis and the voter turnout is likely to be low.

Could this question please be put to Geoff Williams?

The Act says this:

Extraordinary vacancy in local authority or local board or community board (1) If a vacancy occurs in the office of a member of a local authority or in the office of an elected member of a local board or community board more than 12 months before the next triennial general election, the vacancy must be filled by an election under this Act.

PS: One more question, does the council know what a by-election costs or can it give me an idea based on previous by-elections?

Response

From CE Geoff Williams:

The Local Electoral Act requires a by-election to be held if a vacancy occurs more than 12 months before the next triennial election. This legal requirement is not optional.

The cost to run a by-election is approximately $125,000 - this is indicative only.

________________________________________________________________________________________

Media: Local Democracy Reporter

Topic: Council decision-making process re call for free CBD parking

Enquiry

These three councillors have made the below comments, which I invite the mayor and the council (where appropriate) to reply to if desired ...

Peter Bentley: "Our inner city retailers want honest, competent leadership. We saw today a refusal to consider options to assist our retailers."

Reynold Macpherson: "Mahi tinihanga (prodecedural tricks) were used to prevent amendments to our Notice of Motion, prevent free parking to support CBD businesses and prevent common ground emerging as the basis for a new parking policy ."

Raj Kumar: "Though the decision was democratic, it was an important opportunity to show that we could be kind to businesses who reached out to us. We needed to show empathy and not technical cunning which derailed the motion."

Reporter subsequently also invited mayor and council to respond to the following:

Reynold Macpherson [on Facebook]

MAHI TINIHANGA - PROCEDURAL TRICKERY KILLS FREE PARKING NEEDED TO SUPPORT CDB BUSINESSES

Recall how the Mayor referred our Notice of Motion to the last Council meeting on 28 May to the Operations and Monitoring Committee? The Motion was that Council offer Free Parking to support CBD Businesses. A simple and straight forward motion to mobilize support to businesses in danger and to encourage a review of Council policy.

The Motion popped up again this morning at the O&M Committee, after Susan Jory has presented a petition from 2,661 people that slammed the current parking system. The feedback was brutal but blandly ignored. The Mayor and Deputy Mayor pressed Susan to suggest solutions but she wisely and politely pointed out that that was the responsibility of Council.

On queue, Council officials reiterated the history of the parking policy and recommended further price tinkerings. They revealed that withdrawing from the iPark contract before 2026 would cost $1.7 million but did not table the contract. They also revealed that the surplus from the parking system had been falling steadily in recent years; from $591K in 2016/17, to $801K in 2017/18, to $228K in 2018/19 and $95K in 2019/20. It was, in my view, a pitiful story of serial mismanagement compounded by dumb outsourcing and weak supervision.

Finally allowed to speak to the Motion, Cr Peter Bentley, I and Cr Raj Kumar insisted on reiterating what have been told repeatedly by countless owners, retailers and retail staff - that the current parking system is an unfair, unworkable, alienating nightmare that is killing the City. It is annoying, frustrating, antithetical to business and a barrier to economic recovery.

Despite the near absolute coherence between the comments made by those who responded to Susan's petition, and what we three RDRR councillors reported, our Motion was attacked by the Mayor and Deputy Mayor using all manner of trickery, as you can read. And the Noddies on Council duly voted against our Motion, but with a few clearly unhappy with the political hatchet job.

Peter, Raj and I shared our interpretations on what had happened. It is Peter's view that "Our inner city retailers want honest, competent leadership. We saw today a refusal to consider options to assist our retailers." Raj added "Though the decision was democratic, it was an important opportunity to show that we could be kind to businesses who reached out to us. We needed to show empathy and not technical cunning which derailed the motion." In my opinion, "Mahi tinihanga (prodecedural tricks) were used to prevent amendments to our Notice of Motion, prevent free parking to support CBD businesses and prevent common ground emerging as the basis for a new parking policy ."

The problem is no closer to being solved. As I explained to Council, "Many retailers are on the edge of insolvency. Owners confirm that retailers are increasingly defaulting on rents and leases. They need an immediate intervention to help boost customer footfall and cash flows if they are to trade their way through the Covid recession/ depression - which is tipped to last years, not months. How long should Free Parking with Time Limits last? As long as the levels are in place. And during that period, Council will need to revise the whole parking system to make it fit for purpose post-Covid."

Sorry CBD owners, retailers and workers. No chance. Felix's article is correct. The Mayor and her loyal followers killed the Motion using their numbers and the officials will stumble on managing a disaster.

You will now know how to vote next time, assuming you are still in Rotorua.

Response

The organisation doesn't have any comment on the elected members' views but thank you for asking.

From Mayor Steve Chadwick:

The public expects good governance decisions and you don't make good decisions on the hoof.

Sound decision-making requires due process and careful consideration of all related factors and potential impacts, and I think the petitioner we heard from understands and accepts that.

The staff report reinforced you have to know the process and data before making decisions that could have unintended consequences.

Managed parking supports business by creating turnover to ensure customers have equal access, and the current parking policy was established in partnership with inner city businesses following extensive consultation. A change in policy would require new consultation and consideration.

I was reassured to hear about changes that have already been made to the parking system in response to public feedback, and to hear that improvement will continue and staff will work with stakeholders.