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Councillor won’t stand again if schedule not sorted

Blair Jackson

A Southland councillor is using her annual leave to attend meetings, and she says may not stand for a second term if a ‘‘small but very important timetable issue isn’t tweaked’’.

Southland District and Waiau Aparima Ward councillor Karyn Owen said she does not have holidays as she uses leave to attend meetings.

Council meetings were on irregular days and it was hard for a councillor’s employer to get cover for the days of meetings, she said.

Owen felt that got in the way of younger people potentially running for council.

While being a councillor was demanding for self-employed people, it was particularly tough to juggle if you worked for a wage, Owen said.

Owen works 32-hour weeks at Te Hikoi Museum at Riverton. She is the youngest current district councillor and one of four women at the council table, alongside nine men.

District council meetings typically start at 9am with workshops after the meetings, and no matter which committee is sitting, the specific day of the week changes.

Owen wanted people who were thinking about standing for local government to understand the time commitment involved. The next local body election is set for October 8, 2022.

‘‘There’s small but very important tweaks that need to be made,’’ she said.

She wanted council meetings on the same day of the week, so it was consistent, and anyone who was thinking about running needed to know that it required commitment during business-hours.

Owen said she had raised these concerns in private council workshops before and nothing had been done, so she spoke up at a public meeting on Tuesday.

A two-year, independent review of local government is expected to conclude in April 2023.

An interim report released last month noted low diversity, representation and engagement were areas of concern.

Local government expert Dr Andy Asquith said there was nothing to lose by giving Owen’s suggestion a try.

However, the reality was far more complex than changing a schedule could fix, he said.

‘‘Until people have a better understanding of what local government is and does, moving the meeting may have a small but not fundamental impact,’’ Asquith said.

Owens comments came as the southern council’s look to split the cost of a $25,000 event aimed at getting more people to think about running for local body politics.

Included in the suggested $25,000 budget is $7500 for a recognised national media personality, known to the target age range of 25-50, to MC the event.

A further $2500 could be put towards diverse political speakers and the event will focus on explaining the work of council, the role of a councillor, and the process of standing for election.

Southland District mayor Gary Tong will run for Sir Tim Shadbolt’s city council mayoralty next year, but said a timetable change would be something for the next lot of district councillors and mayor to look at.

Tong suggested a 4pm to 10pm session on a consistent day of the week as one option.

‘‘There’s small but very important tweaks that need to be made.’’ Karyn Owen Southland District councillor

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2021-11-27T08:00:00.0000000Z

2021-11-27T08:00:00.0000000Z

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