Jane Nees BOP Regional Councillor www.janenees.co.nz

The most important decision a governance body makes is the appointment of their CEO. For elected local authority councils, this is the only staff member they appoint – all the other staff are appointed by the CEO. The appointment of a CEO is important because the role and performance of the CEO is crucial to the success of an organisation as they take the strategic direction provided by the governance arm and implement it to achieve the desired outcomes. How well the CEO delivers is very dependant on the people they employ and how well they lead them; the culture they build within their organisation; and the relationships they develop and foster with their stakeholders. For local government, this means elected officials, the community at large, other local authorities, central government agencies, iwi – the list goes on.

At the Bay of Plenty Regional Council we have recently appointed a new CEO and the next few months will be very important to set the future direction for our organisation. In Mary-Anne McLeod, we have someone who understands the regional issues, has a very good knowledge of how local and central government work, understands the commercial world outside of council, and has built good relationships and networks with a range of stakeholders. Her job is to shape the organisation so that it is doing the right things, effectively and efficiently. For this she needs clear direction from her board, the councillors, and strong support from her staff.

Council is holding a range of workshops with elected members on the upcoming review of our Ten Year Plan to get an indication of the approach council wants to take in the many different programmes that it delivers as part of its core business. However, there will also be discussions on how we want council to operate. For me, the how is just as important as the what. I would like to see a council that is very customer focused – one that listens to its community and is responsive to what it wants. I would like a culture of continual improvement, a focus on value for money, and a desire to do the very best for the region in a collaborative manner.

It is an interesting time for the local government sector. Change is very much on the horizon. Regionally, we have a new CEO at Tauranga City Council and another new CEO on the way for Whakatane District Council. In the Western Bay, we are initiating a review of SmartGrowth, our growth management strategy – and this will need to develop into a full spatial plan as required by the government for Auckland. There is no doubt we will need to have a regional spatial plan in due course, and we need to work closely with the regions around us on infrastructure issues. The national elections are sure to bring more policy change and we need to be responsive to the changes in direction required by central government. So it is a time when we need good leadership – from the politicians and from our new CEO so that we can rise to the challenges ahead.

If you have any views on this or any other issue, please contact me on neesj@xtra.co.nz or ring me on 07 579-5150. Or you can check out my website at www.janenees.co.nz