Article for East Coast Bays News
The upcoming elections for the new Auckland Council change the landscape geographically and politically.
Gone are the existing cities and districts of Auckland, North Shore, Manukau, Waitakere, Papakura, Franklin and Rodney, and the Auckland Regional Council. In their place we have one large city with one mayor who chairs a 20 member Auckland Council voted on from ‘wards’, and another level of local boards which have some similarities to the present community boards.
This circulation area of this community newspaper covers most of the new ‘Albany Ward’, except the part of the ward across the Upper Harbour that takes in Herald Island, Hobsonville and Whenuapai.
The ward is an unusual shape; it really needs to be seen to be understood since it includes parts of the present North Shore City, Rodney District and Waitakere City. It begins in the south with Campbells Bay (bounded by Aberdeen Road and East Coast Bays Road inland) and heads north taking in the East Coast Bays, Okura, the Weiti Block and all of the Hibiscus Coast inland of the Northern Motorway as far as (and including) Waiwera. It also runs westward in a wide corridor bounded by Constellation/Sunset/Glendhu in the south and Lonely Track/Albany Heights/O’Brien/Ridge/Brookdale Roads to the north, taking in North Harbour, Albany, Greenhithe, Paremoremo, then across the harbor to include Herald Island, Whenuapai and Hobsonville (to Luckens Point). In a number of locations the exact boundary is not always clear. A ward map is available online at: http://www.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/EN/About/Wardsandboards/Wards/Pages/AlbanyWard.aspx
Alternatively google: Auckland Council Albany Ward map. There are also maps on the webpage for the local boards and board subdivisions. Use the magnification facility to blow up your section to check the exact boundaries for the ward and local board in your vicinity
Every voter for the Albany Ward gets to vote for the Mayor, two Albany Ward councillors on the Auckland Council and a number of local board members depending on what local board subdivision applies. There are four local board members from the Hibiscus Coast and four from the East Coast Bays on a combined ‘Hibiscus and Bays Local Board’ of 8 members. A separate ‘Upper Harbour Local Board’ has 6 members elected at large.
Your vote in the elections will also be crucial in determining who is elected mayor since all voters get to vote for this position. Under the new setup the Mayor of Auckland has more influence than existing mayors. The mayor gets to pick the deputy mayor, establish the council committees and appoint their chairpersons. The chairpersons have more pay than an ordinary councillor; this is yet to be deternined. The mayor also has funding of around $3 million for a department answerable to the mayor and not the council’s chief executive. The two Albany Ward Councillors while representing their ward will also represent the Auckland Council as a whole. Local board members on the other hand will focus largely on their local board areas – though the Hibiscus Coast and East Coast Bays members will sit on a single local board.
The Auckland Mayor receives a salary of $240,000, Auckland Councillors a base salary of $80,000, Hibiscus and Bays Local Board members $35,600 (with the Chairperson on $66,700), Upper Harbour Local Board members $34,100 (with the chairperson on $54,900). In addition there are other payments for Auckland Councillors for Committee Chairpersons and additional pay for all tiers for travel and council related expenses.
Important dates: Nominations open for positions on Friday 23rd July and close at noon on Friday 20th August Voting papers are delivered by postal vote from Friday 17th September. Voting closes at noon on Saturday 9th October
Voting for the all the Auckland Council positions from Mayor down to local boards is ‘first past the post’ – so the Mayor and for that matter any person elected to a position may not have a majority vote. With multiple candidates for positions and split voting it is likely the most successful candidates will be elected by a minority.
Albany Ward voters also get to vote for members on the Waitemata District Health Board. This vote is by Single Transferable Vote (STV)
The preliminary results are usually available later on Saturday but the final declaration is sometime between the 14th and 20th October. On the 1st November the new Auckland Council officially comes into being.
Additional content being added daily - watch for video clips on important items tomorrow.