Time to extend council term to four years, says Clutha District mayor

Bryan Cadogan is the Clutha District mayor

OPINION: I think it is fair to say I’m a political dinosaur. After eight election cycles it would be hard to argue otherwise. More and more I find myself in awe of many of the young politicians, especially when comparing their fresh, enlightened, future-focused vision with some of the embarrassing boomer outbursts from others.

This beacon of hope was very apparent at last week’s Local Government New Zealand AGM. I don’t think it’s any secret that our sector is in the middle of a bit of disharmony and ructions and in need of strong future-focused and inclusive leadership.

Central to this new era of hope was Selwyn Mayor Sam Broughton’s elevation to president of LGNZ. This guy stretches your brain, he sees hope where others falter, he has a natural tendency to be collegial and has the guts to stand for what he believes in. I hope New Zealand gives Sam a chance. We live in an era where society strives to unravel but I have co-chaired the South Island Council’s with Sam for the last few years and watched him evolve. If ever there was a time in recent history that our democracy needs a Sam Broughton, it’s now.

The AGM was a great time to observe and ponder. By design it’s a political cauldron and this year the focus was disproportionately influenced by the inconvenience of a general election just around the corner.

The relationship between local and central government is a peculiar one that never really changes. By and large central government exerts its dominance and hides its disdain while local government deludes itself that one day the relationship will recalibrate and put us on a more equal playing field.

The influence and uncertainty the election holds for all councils has never been greater. Reforms proposed for the sector were inevitable but after 3–4 years of planning, the reality we face is that we’re walking into the unknown – what will the outcome mean for local democracy. What we do know is that the diametrically opposed positions the major parties have on some of the big issues will catapult councils in vastly different directions.

In an attempt to contain the terror that builds inside me when contemplating the different possibilities, I turned my mind to what could be done to positively address some of the structural deficiencies in our democratic system. What change could be made to improve performance and ultimately improve results for everyone? The most likely saviour would be to extend the political term from three years to four.

Too simple you say. This dinosaur begs to differ. Here is the common pattern that all councils to some degree go through. Elections are in October and usually things promised by prospective politicians during the campaign stand the test of time for about a week until they realise the enormity of the task they have undertaken. This last election was the worst I have seen for ancillary issues gaining prominence and it dictates proceedings so that nothing of any consequence occurs before February or March the next year.

As councils try to bed in and establish the rules of engagement, statutory requirements sideswipe them with the demands of the first Annual Plan. Very quickly reality kicks in, especially for new councillors. You have been entrusted with a billion-dollar, multi-faceted enterprise that attracts extraordinary amounts of external input. This is usually the end of the honeymoon period; the new council is one sixth of the way through its tenure and councillors areonly just getting their heads around the volumes of information required to make informed decisions.

There would be thousands of hours of reading required to fully be on top of your council’s unique position – an impossible ask if you put your name forward on a single issue.

Before you know it, you’re a year into the cycle and the complex Long-Term Plan process begins to challenge and dominate energies. This is the one time in the council term that big picture decisions and direction setting is undertaken.

If you haven’t dedicated the time required to understand your council’s financial strategy, your community plans, your infrastructural strategy, and the plethora of legislation that will determine the issues and decision making for your communities, it’s too late. This train waits for no-one, and you are either prepared for the opportunity it presents or your swept along by the statutory time frames

No sooner will you have completed your Long-Term Plan, then the first shots are being fired as councillors and the public shuffle for early pole position for elections, and it starts again.

That’s the council three-year cycle in a nutshell, somewhere in the middle there was a 6–12-month period where you were able to function as a council should.

If we genuinely want a council to perform, the simplest structural change to extend the period of optimal performance by two or three times is to extend the term to four years. It won’t solve everything, but it is a change that our struggling democracy desperately needs.