Hutt City Council

Refresh local democracy – councilors should represent the people to the council, not represent the council to communities. We work for you!

Amalgamation with other councils – this is being talked about again. Against this idea – a super city will not serve residents.

End wasteful spending.

Engage with communities of interest, including Te Tiriti Partner (tangata whenua), clubs, organisations and businesses.

Establish a youth leadership forum for outlining their vision, priorities and aspirations. And reviving the youth council.

Support paying our council staff the living wage and partnering with contractors who do the same.

Partner, protect and engage with communities that are often under-represented, especially those who often don't have a voice.

Develop healthy and mutual collaborations by proactively engaging with people, with transparency and opportunity to participate robustly.

Continue to lead with the Living Wage, advocating and supporting city-wide engagement from the wider community valuing our people.

Minimise where possible, spending on corporate overheads, transfer funding to frontline staff, get basic services ticking over.

Commit to robust, open, honest, respectful discussions about the importance of representation and what this means to us as a community.

Engage with health providers to ensure council is playing their part in improving health outcomes for our community.

Personally build constructive relationships with fellow councillors and council staff.

Consider the advantages of merging the two Hutt Valley councils into one body.

Continue to inform and demystify what council does through social media.

Start a monthly newsletter to inform residents and receive feedback on councils services.

Strengthen our relationship with mana whenua and their representation and engagement to councils decision-making.

Instigate an engagement and co-design process with tangata whenua and hapori Māori to ascertain what arrangements are wanted for 2025.

Conduct an immediate culture and engagement assessment of council staff.

Seek a process of cooperation with Upper Hutt City Council in terms of the prospective NBA and spatial plans to provide a 'whole of valley' voice.

Support a meaningful co-governance arrangement with Māori.

Support current community engagement actives carried out by council.

Ensure that all council appointees are treated with respect in all cases, especially from elected officials.

Encourage all councillors to revert to being "at large", like myself, so that they represent the whole city, not just their own area.

Continue to strengthen council's partnership with mana whenua.

Maintain our council's Living Wage accreditation by ensuring all directly employed and contracted staff are earning a living wage.

Improve community engagement and consultation to ensure wider participation from residents and business owners.

Review all aspects of council operations.

Strengthen and encourage meaningful engagement, relationships and representation from tangata whenua in council decisions.

Better consultation with communities on decision making. Actively encourage participation in decisions – wider public consultation processes.

More transparency and better communication to allow for more feedback. Processes to listen to communities to reflect decisions.

Prefer co-design ('tell us your ideas') with affected communities over 'consultation' ('we're probably going to do this, what do you think?')

Support the Living Wage, and include it as one of the weighting factors when renewing contracts (with local supplier also being a factor).

Worth debating amalgamation with Upper Hutt City Council if there is resident support, and demonstrated economies of scale savings.

Support Living Wage for staff, and contractors, Pay equity across Council, recognising every worker is valuable to our city working.

Insist plans and projects are open to collaboration with affected and interested residents, so projects are done with, not to, people.

Recognise principles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi and engage tangata whenua in active partnership in the city's future.

Consult regularly with all public using dedicated and secured social media platform and/or survey on major projects and service quality.

Invest in council staff well being and culture and continuously improve working conditions.

Commit to Māori representation and engagement in consultation with them in a way that best suits them.

All major spending and infrastructure decisions like Three Waters should require compulsory public consultation.

Add Bylaw to introduce binding referendums to provide the constituents the right to: Veto any decision; remove any city official.

Improve public engagement by having regular council meetings focused on local issues in each local community.

Promote decentralised decision making and public participation.

Resist central government over-reach into local council operations.

Support representation of all ethnic groups equally.

Review current council organisation strengths, weaknesses and staffing, and listen to staff/residents feedback.

Improve council communication and send out regular newsletter. Hold suburban clinics for residents to hear concerns.

Commit to democratic principle of equal votes for all. Review community panels for effectiveness.