While Southern Auckland is holding a workshop on empowering communities with Auckland Council this evening (COMMUNITY EMPOWERMENT WORKSHOPS) news that that the Advisory Panels that were a first step up to assist in empowering are not looking well.
From NZ Herald
Second Ethnic People’s Advisory Panel member quits
5:00 AM Tuesday Mar 24, 2015 – Lincoln Tan
Resignation from council ethnic advisory group blamed on concerns at money wasted.
Another member of the Auckland Council Ethnic People’s Advisory Panel has resigned, and the Herald understands at least two of the nine remaining panellists are on the verge of quitting.
Kafeba Pergoleze Alvis Mundele, one of only two on the panel who also served in the previous term, tendered his resignation at the weekend.
His resignation follows that of panel chairman Feroz Ali, who quit last week saying the panel was a “token” body, had no real status and that he was unhappy about what it was costing ratepayers.
Acting chairman Dave Tomu yesterday confirmed Mr Mundele’s resignation but would not comment further.
“I will wait until I have the meeting with the mayor, and also I need to report back to the whole group.”
Shortly after speaking to the Herald, Mr Tomu sent an email to the panel warning members not to speak to the media.
He asked them to refer all inquiries to the council’s public affairs and communications team as per the panel’s terms of reference.
There are another two from the Ethnic Panel looking at quitting and I have picked up rumblings others in other Panels are looking at jumping.
The reason? All the same in the fact that they perceive the Panels to be tokenism, waste of money, rubber stampers, and having no influence to the large Committees of the Whole, and the main Governing Body.
So after five years of rumblings that Panels, workshops, and consultations were tokenism with the Council already predetermined the chooks are slowly coming home to roost.
Now it is yet to be seen whether the Council will pay attention and “honour” the feedback from the recent Long Term Plan feedback sessions we just went through. However, it seems with the news coming out of the Panels that not all is well the community empowerment workshop might be getting a work out tonight.
Next move is now back to Auckland Council. Will they give full empowerment to the communities or is it more tokenism?
Talking Southern Auckland 
I have thought, said and experienced that consultations are tokenism. The outcomes are in most cases predetermined.