Interacting with arguably the second most powerful authority in New Zealand
People ask me frequently how difficulty is it to deal or interact with Auckland Council as a whole. The answer is depending on who I am exactly dealing with. If I am interacting with the Councillors including the Deputy Mayor it is usually pretty easy and “stress free.” If it is the officers or the bureaucracy as a whole it can range from straight forward (the comm’s teams and urban design team) to somewhat more difficult (often Auckland Transport (that said they can be the most difficult from experience) and periodically the planning department). Local Boards I don’t deal with often apart from Orakei Local Board (and I am from Papakura 😛 ) so I can not really give an evaluation there.
As for the websites from the Council and the Council Controlled Organisations (CCO’s), apart from the ‘Agenda’s and Meetings’ portal which is user-unfriendly compared to the old first term portal the websites are pretty easy to use (this does not include the fact on how quickly Council and the CCO’s update the sites with new information).
So if you have an interest in the governance of your home – Auckland the two main logical questions are going to be ‘How’ and ‘Why.’
The ‘Why’ is usually we are a democracy and there is more to it than casting your vote every three years. Interacting regularly with the Council whether it be: coffee with your local Councillor, attending Committees, and writing submissions has two consequences from those interactions – both usually positive. The first being “kept up to date” with what is actually happening rather than relying on say the New Zealand Herald. And as we know being kept up to date is the best weapon against those who scaremonger and those who want to influence the Council for positive outcomes. This first consequence naturally leads to the second consequence of “influencing the Council” itself.
So you can influence the Council and its policies – the catch is how and this is where people can get caught off guard and disillusioned with the democratic process.
First of all I need to point out a key aspect of our representative democracy and where people are caught off guard. It is this listening business. People often say that the Council does not listen to them. My normal answer is; there is listening and there is listening. The first act of listening the Council is obliged to do – that is hearing your concerns, recommendations, criticisms and ideas while asking questions and having a conversation with you. If they do not do this act of listening then you have every right to be very cranky with them and applying further “pressure.”
However, the second act of listening the Council is not obliged to do (but may do so if it wishes) and this is where people get caught out. This second act of listening is “actioning” what ever you did put forward to the Council or the CCO’s. As in real life things and ideas get contested, accepted and rejected – and this is no different in a democratic institution either. Think of the Council especially when before the Governing Body and Committees as that place were ideas are contested, rejected, amended and accepted. If you keep that in the back of your mind then if you do get “rejected” by the Council it will not come as a total and rude shock to you. If your idea does get accepted the feeling can be euphoric especially if you have poured your heart and soul into it. But remember – while Council is obliged to “listen” they are NOT obliged to “listen.” And nothing more annoys me when people who did get listened to by the Council but as an end product not “listened” to run off literally crying to the media on how they were not listened too (sorry for all the double speak here). Heck sake folks as I have pointed out ideas and so on get rejected in Council as they do in real life even if the said idea was a very good one (or a Council decision was a shocker).
Thus I tend to view when interacting with the Council especially when giving presentations to Committees as a place to contest ideas back and forth with a bit of luck the best one being the victor of the day. That said I also anticipate the rejection of ideas and some absolute shockers of decisions coming out from those Council chambers as well. A basic fact of life and fact of democracy – nothing is perfect.
How can one “influence” Council policy
That depends whether you want to jump in the deep end or take things in a more progressive manner. Also it depends whether you want to be influencing policy around your local community or the region as a whole. Either way the methods are pretty much all the same for both the main Council and the Local Boards.
Taking a few pages from my own book when I first entered into the local politics foray in 2010 when the Super City was formed for those who want to interact more with the governance of Auckland.
- Found out where your Local Board members or your ward Councillor(s) are at public events. These events are usually advertised in local newspapers, on the Council website and through Facebook. These events are a good informal and relaxed way to meet your elected representatives and have a yarn about just about anything and everything. That said if it is a big event getting some quality one-to-one time might be difficult.
- Show up at a Local Board or Committee meeting and observe some (or all if you are game) of the proceedings. The schedule of such meetings can be found here: http://www.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/EN/AboutCouncil/meetings_agendas/schedule_of_meetings/Pages/default.aspx . Agendas are released usually between three days to a week before the respective meeting and can be found (along with the Minutes) here: http://infocouncil.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/ (both web and PDF versions are usually available). Downloading and having a quick read of the Agenda (yes I know some are inanely long) prior to the meeting is a good way of being brought up to speed before the Local Board or Committee deliberates. Presentations from the CCO’s, and public input sections are often attached as well for your reference. At the meetings most of the elected representatives will interact with you either prior, in a break or the conclusion of the meeting. This is a good way to have a chat on matters that affect you and wish to share with the representatives. Just a note that the Committees of the Whole (see below) can be pretty heavy especially if there are large Agenda’s for those Committees in play. If you plan to attend one of these respective Committees prepare to take at least half a day out from your schedule – trust me on that one
- If you want to give a presentation there is ways of going about it before it can happen. My strong recommendation would be to have a sit down with your war Councillor first on the issue and let them know you would like to make a presentation to the Council. Your Councillor should guide you through the process that occurs when requesting a “public input” slot at a Committee (or Local Board) meeting and more to the point – point you to the right Committee as well (I have seen a few presentations given to the wrong respective) Committee. Your Councillor should also inform you what will be installed for you when you give your presentation to the respective Committee as well.
- When finally giving your presentation remember the following:
- Arrive 15 minutes before the Committee is due to start. That way you can grab a coffee and a biscuit that are usually at the back of the room, familiarise yourself with the Council chamber (if you have not been before), hand over any supplementary material you might have to the Committee’s respective Democracy Advisor (who you would have been in contact with to get the public input slot), and if they are floating around say hello to a few of the Committee members and other members of the public that might be in attendance
- You have five minutes to give your presentation unless you were granted a full deputation by the Committee Chair (these are rare and usually given only on “extraordinary” matters). Your supplementary material should have all the key information, details and any external links (to outside material). The Councillors, officers and IMSB members will read that supplementary material in their own time. Your presentation should be outlining and providing a summary of the key points you wish to make including criticisms, ideas, and concerns you might have. Unless you were granted a deputation do not go into heavy detail there is simply not enough time.
- Prepare for questions. This can happen but sometimes it might not. The last presentation I have (which was a deputation) resulted in me being in the hot seat for around thirty minutes taking questions from the Councillors. Councillors (unless they are playing “politics”) will often frame their questions to either find more information or push through a subsequent resolution for action. Again I have had this happen the most recent with Manukau.
- You can NOT ask the Committee members questions yourself per Standing Orders. If you do have further questions then follow-up emails or talking to Councillors afterwards is the best solution there.
- Mind the language. There is times for being direct and to the point but there are times where more “diplomacy” is needed – especially if the subject matter is sensitive and/or controversial. That said insulting the Committee members will get you no where very fast no matter how angry you are. I know some people would consider “diplomacy” as weasel words but as I have reminded my father-in-law more than once; “where did that direct bluntness get you?” Often and the sad answer is no where no matter how good the point was (so wasted effort). How do you know when it is the time to be direct and other times to be more diplomatic? I am afraid that is something you will need to learn and experience yourself.
- This does not happen often but keep an eye on any CCO’s or departments giving presentations on similar subject matter as your own. More than once I have given a presentation to the Committees only for usually Auckland Transport, and the Planners give a subsequent “altered” presentation as they have incorporated your view points from your presentation and are answering back to both you and the Committee. This is good thing if it does happen as at least they are paying attention.
- Do not expect the Committees or the Local Boards to action (listen) what you are calling for straight away. Often it takes time and can get ground down in the bureaucracy before anything tangible comes about and it can be very frustrating. Again using a more recent example it took three years of well lobbying Council in pushing Manukau to become a Super Metropolitan Centre rather than a standard Metropolitan Centre before the first tangible results came through which you can see in this post here: “Developing a 21st Century Auckland Presentation – The Results.” That post does show with patience and passion you can “influence” Council policy
- Keep in regular contact with Councillors and Local Board members. Providing you do not go and deliberately well pissing them off constantly the Councillors and Local Board members are often quite happy to talk to you and from time to time even have a coffee with you. It is a good way to be kept abreast of things in Town Hall while the Councillors and Local Board members are kept abreast of happenings in Auckland.
This list is not any way exhaustive and I have not covered submissions yet which is formal way of influencing Council policy.
I do not give presentations on behalf of others any more except under limited circumstances. That said I can assist with things like submissions, presentation writing and tips, and tips and pointers. In my upcoming Civics 201 post I will be looking at submissions and what to do about them.
Of course as democracy is as fluid as anything my Civics 101 will be updated from time to time.
I am happy to engage in dialogue with others on Auckland governance. You can leave a comment in the comment boxes below or hit me up via email view[dot]of[dot]auckland[at]gmail[dot]com
Talking Southern Auckland 