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Elected Members
The Elected Members are the Mayor and Councillors. These are the people that you vote for every three years – well if you are over 18 anyway. The Elected Members are there to represent the views of the community and it is up to them to make the decisions about the city – such as which projects should go ahead, how much rates should be, what people should be charged etc.
Once you are over 18 and are on the election roll, you will receive a voting form and a booklet which contains a brief outline of what each prospective councillor stands for. Although it may seem a bit boring and confusing, it pays to read this information and find out as much as you can about them – because they are the ones that are in charge of your city!
Anyone that lives in Tauranga can put themselves forward to become an Elected Member – so if you want more of a youth focus around the table, then it could be something for you to think about...
We currently have 11 Elected Members, These are:
- Mayor Stuart Crosby
- Deputy Mayor David Stewart
- Cr Wayne Moultrie
- Cr Bill Grainger
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- Cr Murray Guy
- Cr Rick Curach
- Cr Bill Faulkner
- Cr Larry Baldock
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- Cr Catherine Stewart
- Cr Tony Christiansen
- Cr Terry Molloy
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 | Tauranga City Council is located on Willow Street in the MIDDLE OF THE Tauranga CBD.
A lot of people don’t really understand what councils do, but in a nutshell, the council runs the city. The Council run everything from the sewer network to stadiums, parks, pollution prevention, roads and rubbish – and that’s just to name a few.
It is the Council’s responsibility to make sure that you have: access from A to B, running water from your tap, areas to run around, pools to swim at, rubbish picked up etc.
We are also responsible for how the city is going to look in 2, 10, 20, and 50 years’ time – with the city’s residents’ help of course. We plan for the future through documents such as the Annual Plan and Ten Year Plan. These documents outline all of the projects (and how much they are going to cost) that are planned for the city.
Then there are documents like the District Plan. This is a huge document and outlines all of the rules about what people can and cannot do in their private (and public) property – i.e., how high fences can be, how close you can build to your next door neighbour, how loud your parties can be etc.
There are 85 city, district and regional councils in New Zealand local government.
Overall, there are two parts to council: The Elected Members and the Staff. The Elected Members make decisions on their communities’ behalf, with council management and staff responsible for implementing them. |
Words you’ll need to know in Council:
If you do sit in on a council meeting, chances are you will hear a lot of words and jargon that you have never really heard before and/or have no idea what they mean.
Here are a few handy definitions used A LOT in Council!
Annual Plan: This is our budget for the year – it sets out what we intend to do each year, how much it will cost and where we intend to get the money from.
Capital Value: The value of land plus additions such as buildings, driveways and fences.
Development Contribution: Payment made by a developer to cover part of the costs of providing infrastructure to a new development.
Elected Members: The Mayor and Councillors.
Levels of Service: This is easiest to explain using examples. Levels of Service are things like the number of parks in a certain location, how many times per month the Council mows the lawns, how many times a day rubbish bins are emptied etc.
Rates: Rates are a tax on property that the Council collects to fund some of its services /projects.
Submission: Feedback or proposal from a citizen or group on an issue aimed to influence the Elected Members’ decisions.
Ten Year Plan: Like the Annual Plan but includes budget information for ten years.
Territorial Authority: A city or district council. |
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