Last hurrah for KDC team members

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BY JULIA WADE

 

As new faces appear around the Kaipara District Council [KDC] table, outgoing elected members and the mayor have said their goodbyes at what proved to be a reflective and often-emotional last official gathering, before signing off for the final time.

Three outgoing Kaipara councillors – Anna Curnow, Peter Wethey, and David Wills – along with mayor Dr Jason Smith gave their valedictory speeches on September 28 at KDCs Dargaville office. Besides talking about their experience, members also gave praise to the hard work and efforts from council staff led by the executive team and outgoing chief executive [CE] Louise Miller, who took up the role in 2018 and is Kaipara’s longest-serving CE in the past decade.

 

Dr Jason Smith, Kaipara mayor, 2018–2022

Beginning with a famous inspirational quote by Theodore Roosevelt – ‘The Man in the Arena’, about the merits of striving hard, aiming for success and working through setbacks – Smith says he chose the words to illustrate KDCs significant governance story ‘which is second to none… with the greatest achievement being, is that it is still here’.

“Four-and-a-half years ago when I arrived as a rookie mayor with an established council, I was pitching myself into the most extraordinary thing which I had no idea of… I thought governance was fixed and sweet, debt was resolved, council laws were functioning well and staff were working harmoniously… then I opened the cupboard and discovered it wasn’t as I expected… and look at the transformation,” he says.

“Council has been through one of the worst governance storms… we’ve built trust, transparency, engagement, communication and performance results, all of which have come from the extraordinary work and successful leadership of Louise and her team. KDC now is a bona fide council.”

He says council staff achievements have been many including capital works programs allowing for shared paths, footbridges, roads and wharfs ‘which could never have been possible just out of rates’, and the building control authority ‘a huge success and Kaipara is now held up as the national leader’.

“We have a wonderful building/resource consent process system which is the envy of many councils, our roading is starting to work, we have an Exposure District and Spacial Plan, and a recent glowing audit report. This is significant… it was only a few years ago Local Government NZ pitied us as we couldn’t do any building work… look how far you’ve come Kaipara.”

Smith also acknowledged KDC executive manager Jason Marris for his guidance regarding governance and ‘teaching me about how to chair these meetings, I’m sure we would have been wrecked on the rocks without you’; Peter Wethey for his grace and support when he first became mayor; and Anna Curnow ‘without your significant service, we would have achieved only a fraction of what we have.’

The district’s engagement in the council scene across Northland has also extended Smith says, and Kaipara now ‘stands shoulder-to-shoulder’ with Whangarei and the Far North, working regionally with climate change, the Northland Transport Alliance, and the mayoral forum, which was a catalyst for Smith to represent Northland councils on the government’s Three Waters working group – ‘Kaipara is now in a great space with these engagements in Northland.’

“Council was in huge trouble in the past due to government-related challenges and that comes from what happens around this table,” Smith says. “I’d like to acknowledge and thank all the elected members of this council and the one before, for trusting in me and bringing your best selves to the table to make the best decisions for the people who we represent. One of the great measures of this is that the Auditor General doesn’t ring me any more about the decisions of the council… I’m so happy and proud for all we’ve done, an extraordinary achievement.”

For a parting gift, Smith handed out Kauri trees to the departing councillors and staff, and also acknowledged the members who were continuing on.

“I wish you great service and best wishes for what is ahead, KDC is absolutely in a good place, this is now a very trusted council, I’m leaving happy in the knowledge that all of us together have built a solid platform which the next council will be able to dance on and achieve their things in their time. I’m looking forward to seeing how council will go on,” he says. “Twenty-one years ago, I became chief executive for the Kaipara District Economic Development Agency and still remember my powhiri here, think I’ve come-of-age and it’s time for me to move on. Thank you everybody for the most amazing journey, we’ve given it a damn good bashing, it’s been fantastic!”

 

Cr David Wills, West Coast-Central Ward, 2019–2022

Despite a rocky start with council staff and admittedly being a ‘bit bolshy’ when first elected, Wills says once ‘we settled down we had a constructive working relationship’ and thanked council management, staff and the community for electing him. 

“A lot of council work is done behind the scenes and I feel I’ve done some good work. We’ve had some great wins – the Pouto Road sealing, a reduction in the east vs west rhetoric, finances are in a better state and the audit report has given us a clean bill of health. But most importantly to me is that we’ve helped return confidence in the council.”

Wills says he is leaving a number of unfinished jobs which he has pushed hard for – ‘that’s the nature of the role’ – including management of Ripero beach ‘for the enjoyment of all’, the Pouto wharf construction, speed management for Bayleys Beach residents, and ‘trusts council staff will continue to support the efforts of the Te Kopuru development group.’

“Also want to thank my fellow councillors, we’ve not always agreed and have sometimes argued passionately about our views, but by and large have managed to have a functional, operating environment, thank you for putting up with me. I’ve enjoyed my time on council and who knows, you may see me show up again in governance.”

 

Cr Peter Wethey, Mangawhai-Kaiwaka Ward 2016-2022, deputy mayor 2016-2019

After becoming inspired to do something for the district when invited to be a community representative on the wastewater project back in 2014/15, Wethey says ‘I never thought I’d end up spending six years in local government.’

“When I think back on my election promises, with my old billboard stating ‘a fresh start for Kaipara’ – putting Kaipara on solid foundation, an efficient council with responsible financial policies, future proofing for growth and planned infrastructure, and community consultation, communication, collaboration, accountability and transparency – when I look at those, we’ve actually gone a long way up the scale on nearly every one of those indicators,” he says. “We started out in a very rocky position, when we swore our oath of office in 2016 most of us didn’t realise what we got ourselves into, we should have run for the hills… but we struggled on and when I think of what we’ve gone from, then to now, it’s a real big leap, I’m pretty proud to be part of what I believe to be a very effective council.”

High points for the two-term councillor include support for his notice-of-motion to seek a resource consent review – ‘that’s been incredible’ – and the recent land purchase for the Mangawhai sports and recreational facility.

“A massive thanks to both staff and everyone around the table, it’s one of the most significant decisions we’ve made and will be really beneficial for the community,” he says. “Another highlight for me is working with and interacting with the elected members here and with the council staff. Our CE Louise has a good team, we have a completely different organisation now.”

Parting with a few words of wisdom, Wethey says incoming councillors and staff alike will have to be effective at change management otherwise their time could be difficult: ‘I hope we can hold it together over the next few years.’

“I’ve met some very interesting people in the community from Bayleys Beach to Mangawhai, they all seemed to find my phone number when they had a problem with the resource consent for some reason, which was good, I’ve seen a lot of Kaipara,” he says. “It’s been a really interesting six years, a great ride for me, and I hope people feel I’ve made some contribution to the community.”

 

Cr Anna Curnow, Otamatea Ward 2016-2022, deputy mayor 2019-2022

Conversations with colleagues, and more importantly the community, are the ‘cherished moments’ for Curnow over her two terms, ‘those opportunities to really listen, to get to grips with what actually is being asked, what is expected.’

“Even the pothole complaints will have a place in my heart as there is nothing I like more than a problem with many facets, and most of our problems here at council have layers of complexity, with regulations, budgets etc,” she says. “The thing about the kind of problems we deal with, is that they are only problems because of how they affect people, so we get to fix problems for people and I love that part of the job.”

Other highlights are attending special planning meetings held across the district, to hear the hopes and dreams of Kaipara residents.

“I’m happy to go to those, it’s an opportunity to hear directly from people, to open the floor for them to set the direction that suits them, this helps us build trust in the community,” she says. “I want to thank the planning team for inviting council to go down this path, it was eye and heart opening for me. I also want to thank the team for making this the basis of the district plan and everyone in the community who engaged in the process, sharing their ideas and wisdom, to help council to do a better job of planning for all our futures.”

Curnow got a first taste of local government while attending a Mangawhai community meeting at the beginning of the reign of the commissioners, and admits encountering the public hostility terrified her.

“I’ve never experienced that level of anger and hatred directed at the commissioners and by default, me. Working with the commissioners was an extraordinary experience, in some ways an amazing chance to learn local government, but I also witnessed vigorous debates about cost-cutting, not mowing parks or spending money on roads and the despair of staff who knew they couldn’t do their jobs as there wasn’t any funding,” she says. “It was an incredible learning curve, I want to thank the commissioners for teaching me how to value the community, make tough decisions and how to deal with hard critical feedback, skills that have proved invaluable as an elected member.”

Over the last six years Curnow has seen council turning a corner, and praised CE Louise Miller ‘who arrived to a council which had three CE’s and three mayors, some acting, in the space of only 18 months.’

“Council was stressed and debt was still a big issue… changing the direction of an organisation takes time, effort and skill. Louise transformed the culture into one that focused on service to the community while also nurturing its people, which was further tested beyond anything that could be expected by Covid and rapid changes to local government. Thanks to her leadership and supported by the exec team, council has been able to keep serving, it’s been an honour to work with them.”

Her working relationship with mayor Smith is real evidence Curnow says ‘that you don’t always have to agree to work well together.’

“Thank you for all your support and believing in me. To my colleagues, we’ve had a blast, had some great debates, made some courageous decisions and kept our eyes on the ball. I’m proud of what we have achieved, there will always be much more to do, but I have real confidence the next council has a solid base to work from,” she says. “It is with gratitude that I move on and wish the next mayor and council the very best.”

 

n To view Kaipara District Council’s September 28, 2022 last meeting, visit KDC Youtube channel via kaipara.govt.nz

 

“I’m leaving happy in the knowledge that all of us together have built a solid platform which the next council will be able to dance on and achieve their things in their time.”

– Outgoing mayor Dr Jason Smith

 

 

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