Councillors have been appointed as the liaisons for specific areas of Nelson to ensure representation. Photo: Max Frethey / LDR
Nelson has been divvied up between the city's councillors to try and ensure all residents are represented.
As part of Mayor Nick Smith's updated council structure for the next three years, most councillors have been made liaisons for specific areas of the community.
In most cases, these are geographic areas, but others will be liaisons for certain sectors of the city.
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Last term, Nelson City Council appointed liaison councillors for areas of the community that Smith felt were underrepresented: James Hodgson for Atawhai, Campbell Rollo for Tāhunanui, and Aaron Stallard for Nelson North.
Matty Anderson was also appointed the liaison for Pacific and ethnic communities.
"I've had very positive feedback from the community and the way in which that worked," Smith said.
He spoke to the expanded liaison roles at the council's meeting on Thursday, with almost every councillor getting appointed to a specific area.
Representing the full breadth of the city was "actually really hard", Smith said.
"The risk if we don't coordinate it is that we leave gaps of some people not being heard, or that we overlap in our work."
Mayor Nick Smith said appointing liaisons for Nelson's communities and sectors will ensure representation and spread councillors' work evenly. Photo: Max Frethey / LDR
Under the new liaison structure, Rollo has kept Tāhunanui, and Hodgson has kept Atawhai while also being given the Wood.
Stallard has been shifted to Nelson East, while Lisa Austin has taken up his North Nelson role.
Anderson will pick up Nelson South, Trudie Brand will have Stoke, Mel Courtney will take the Port Hills, and Sarah Kerby given the Nayland-Monaco area.
Outside of geography, Kahu Paki Paki will be the liaison for local Māori, Anderson will keep his Pacific and ethnic communities role as well as, separately, taking on social services, Stallard will pick up environmental groups, while Kerby and Rollo will share sports to ensure they deliver for both men and women.
Certain industries will also gain liaison councillors, with Lisa Austin picking up tourism and hospitality, Mel Courtney assigned to retail and commerce, Kahu Paki Paki appointed to building and construction, and Nigel Skeggs taking on the marine and manufacturing sectors.
Nelson's central city and port were not assigned a liaison as the areas already had oversight through deputy mayor Pete Rainey's city revitalisation taskforce, as well as Courtney's retail and commerce, and Skeggs' marine sector liaison roles.
Tim Skinner was the only elected member, besides the mayor and deputy mayor, who was not appointed to a liaison area.
Councillor Tim Skinner said chairing a major committee and a lot of council-related travel have prevented him from taking on a liaison role. Photo: Max Frethey / LDR
He told Local Democracy Reporting that he would be too busy to take on a liaison role as he would be chair of the new delivery committee, which had "pretty much every project" in its purview, and would be travelling often as the council's Local Government New Zealand representative.
Smith said liaison councillors were meant to be the "eyes and ears" for their respective areas, the "first point of call" for residents and organisations from an area, and will support staff with relevant engagement and communications.
However, the liaisons are not exclusive, and councillors can still engage with any resident, group, or business across the city.
"The most important function we have as elected members is being good representatives for our community," Smith said.
Return to committees
There was also a wider governance shake-up, with Smith introducing some additional committees after he disbanded most when he initially became mayor last term.
In addition to the audit, risk, and finance committee, three other committees were established to ensure greater oversight of council activities.
They were Skinner's delivery committee, the customer experience committee, chaired by Brand, and the strategy and planning committee, chaired by Hodgson.
"We need more opportunities for elected members to be able to scrutinise and be satisfied on the delivery," Smith said.
With trimmed-down membership, these new oversight committees only have the power to recommend decisions to the full council rather than make their own decisions, and will meet three times a year.
These areas of oversight reflect internal structure changes at the council to bring about efficiencies.
Stallard, who ran against Smith for mayor, had campaigned on a return to a standing committee structure.
Despite the introduction of some oversight committees, councillor Aaron Stallard still has transparency and democracy concerns. Photo: Max Frethey / LDR
He told Local Democracy Reporting that despite the committees increasing oversight, there was still a "democratic deficit" around the council chamber and a lack of transparency.
"Both of these problems would be solved by re-establishing decision-making committees with councillors as chairs that would help to shape the future direction of council."
Pay packets
Smith said he expected all councillors to do an equal amount of work, which was reflected in the equal distribution of the councillors' pay pool.
The external Remuneration Authority allocated $673,582 for all councillors' salaries until the end of the financial year.
The deputy mayor will get a pay of $70,951 while the councillors will each take home $54,785.
The mayor's salary, as determined by legislation, is $172,013.
Local Democracy Reporting is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air
