The role of councillors is to maintain contact with the community, businesses and other organisations affected by the Council’s decisions and consider their views when setting, monitoring and reviewing policy. Gisborne District Council has 14 councillors elected from the district’s seven wards and a Mayor elected separately.
The Mayor is a member ex officio of all committees. All councillors are members of the Policy & Consultation and Civil Defence committees.
What committees does Council have?
Standing committees:
- Civil Defence & Emergency Management Group
- Community Development
- Environment and Policy
- Finance and Monitoring
- Hearings
- Operations
- Regional Land Transport
Membership of Council and Committees
Working Group
Established for one-off projects
Committees outside Council
- Creative Communities
- Sister Cities
The committee responsibilities and structure of council are detailed in the Governance Statement of the Gisborne District Council (pages 9-16).
The Local Government Act 2002 requires council to produce a Governance Statement within six months of the triennial local body elections. The Governance Statement April 2005 (updated June 2007) is available here. It contains information about the processes through which the council engages with its community, how council makes decisions and how citizens can influence those processes.
The council is responsible for employing the chief executive and its principal relationship is with the chief executive. The chief executive is responsible for establishing and maintaining the operational structure of the council. A group of senior managers (Corporate Management Team) manages key portfolio areas. See Management structure
Council staff, known as officers, provide the council with policy advice and implement policies under the direction of the chief executive. They decide the operational approach needed to complete the council’s policies and to achieve the results the council wants. Councillors cannot direct council staff.
