The request was based on concerns about the governance environment within the council and elected members\u2019 ability to participate in council matters, the letter said. <\/p>\n
\u201cAs the Minister of Local Government, I expect all mayors and councillors across New Zealand, including at the Far North District Council, to collaborate effectively and deliver for their communities,\u201d Watts said in the letter. <\/p>\n
Watts said his understanding remained that the council was discharging its functions under Local Government Act requirements. <\/p>\n
The Far North Mayor said the council had not heard from the minister since. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe have not received any information from Minister Watts regarding a Crown Observer other than a letter we received yesterday, outlining that he remained confident we were discharging our functions under the [Local Government)] Act and that he was satisfied we were conducting our governance appropriately. <\/p>\n
\u201cIf that situation has changed, however, then we are committed to working with the minister and his processes regarding this matter,\u201d Tepania said. <\/p>\n
Far North District councillor Davina Smolders <\/p>\n
Smolders welcomed Watts\u2019 decision to have officials engage with the council and report back to him. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhile I still think the appointment of a Crown Observer is needed to deliver better governance, I\u2019m glad that in the meantime officials from outside the council will consider the facts,\u201d Smolders, a first-time Far North councillor, said. <\/p>\n
\u201cMy focus has always been on transparency and making sure decisions are made in line with the law and in the best interests of our community. I am confident that, with all of the information in front of him, the minister will arrive at the right decision,\u201d Smolders said. <\/p>\n
Watts told Local Democracy Reporting there was a very high threshold for any Crown Observer appointment. <\/p>\n
He said under the Local Government Act 2002, councils were autonomous, democratically elected bodies. <\/p>\n
\u201cMy role as Minister of Local Government is not to get involved in day\u2011to\u2011day council operations or disagreements between elected members.\u201d <\/p>\n
Watt said councils were responsible for their own decision\u2011making, committee structures and internal governance. <\/p>\n
\u201cI encourage all elected members to engage constructively, act professionally and make use of the mechanisms available to them to resolve issues internally,\u201d Watts said. <\/p>\n
The powers to intervene are intended to be used only in \u201cextreme circumstances\u201d where there is clear and significant failure by a council to carry out its statutory responsibilities, he said. <\/p>\n
\u201cThese interventions are subject to strict legal tests and are legally contestable.\u201d <\/p>\n
Since the Government\u2019s power to appoint a Crown Observer was created in 2012, it has been used only twice in New Zealand among 78 councils \u2013 at Kaipara District Council and Wellington City Council. <\/p>\n
Northland MP Grant McCallum said he expected all parties involved in the council\u2019s governance to maintain the highest standards of professionalism and respect. <\/p>\n
\u201cI strongly recommend Local Government New Zealand engage proactively with the Far North District Council to provide support as needed,\u201d McCallum said. <\/p>\n
He said it was incumbent upon all members of council to lead by example. <\/p>\n
\u2013 LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The request was based on concerns about the governance environment within the council and elected members\u2019 ability to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":374485,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[74,52371,13916,1559,5205,38290,10808,7557,101425,528,266,440,6722,111,43,139,529,69,163990,10711,90,43296,21674,6037,49771,102],"class_list":{"0":"post-374484","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-zealand","8":"tag-after","9":"tag-appointment","10":"tag-asked","11":"tag-called","12":"tag-council","13":"tag-councillor","14":"tag-crown","15":"tag-district","16":"tag-engage","17":"tag-far","18":"tag-government","19":"tag-local","20":"tag-minister","21":"tag-new-zealand","22":"tag-news","23":"tag-newzealand","24":"tag-north","25":"tag-nz","26":"tag-observer","27":"tag-officials","28":"tag-on","29":"tag-puts","30":"tag-scrutiny","31":"tag-simon","32":"tag-watts","33":"tag-with"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/374484","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=374484"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/374484\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/374485"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=374484"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=374484"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=374484"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}