Election review gathering speed
18 July 2015 [Pictured: Councillor Merepeka Raukawa-Tait]
A survey to canvass the community's views and ideas on future election arrangements in Rotorua, wrapped up this week with more than 200 completed survey forms received. The responses will be collated and analysed over the next week or so by council staff and then presented to the Your Choice 2016 Election Review Working Party members to work their way through.
Your Choice Working Party chair, Councillor Merepeka Raukawa-Tait said the survey was to help inform the group's members of the range of views and ideas out in the community. It was one of a number of mechanisms being used for gathering feedback from the community she said.
Survey results will be considered alongside other information we've been gathering from meetings with community organisations, a number of hui, discussions with special interest groups and attending public events like the Night Market and Kuirau Park Saturday market. We still have some of these meetings to go so it's too early yet to say what themes will come out of this programme of public engagement.
It's been a stimulating and rewarding process to date. We've been impressed by the breadth of thinking we've heard from the community, and we're really encouraged by the depth of interest in the way we elect our district officials. It's a wonderful demonstration of participative democracy at work.
My colleagues on the working party have been very active in getting around the traps and talking to people from all walks of life and I'm very grateful for their hard work and open-minded approach - especially our three community representatives who are giving their own time to this important project.
Shortly the working party will be starting to work through all the feedback received and examining a range of options that potentially are available for future election arrangements in Rotorua. These include looking at how many councillors should be elected, whether elections should be by wards or at large' as at present, and the future place of community boards in our district.
Our timeframe is to have a recommendation or series of recommendations before the council at a council meeting on 26 August, said Mrs Raukawa-Tait.
After the working party's recommendations have been received, the council will decide on its preferences and then go out to the public for a formal consultation and submission process.
Arrangements for the 2016 local government election need to be decided on by 12 November. Those council decisions will then be open to an appeal process, with any appeals lodged being considered and decided on by the Local Government Commission by April next year.