Their Experiences

2008 Overseas Manager Exchanges

Many SOLGM members have benefited from the programme and through this professional, personal and cultural experience, most have gone back to their local authorities inspired and armed with a better perspective and increased knowledge of local government. 

Here are the 2008 participants of the Overseas Manager Exchange

• NSW Similarities - Jeff Kivell
• Wentzville Bound - Robert Mallinson
• Flying our flag in Canada - Susan Jones

NSW Similarities

Jeff Kivell
Manager Water and Waste Operations
Taupo District Council

In 2008 I was very fortunate to be awarded the SOLGM Manager Exchange to New South Wales. I had a very useful visit to Dubbo City Council, my exchange partner’s council, from September 15 to 17. Unfortunately my exchange was arranged in a bit of a hurry because of the reorganisation taking place within LGMA New South Wales. There was very little time to make exchange arrangements and organise a programme of visits and it was impossible for my exchange partner to come to New Zealand.

My wife and I ended up staying in a hotel in Sydney for about five days, which proved to be burden (yeah right). We attended the LGMA (NSW) 2008 Conference in Penrith where, as well as meeting many local government managers from NSW, I was fortunate to also meet exchange managers from California.

There is a high degree of similarly between local government in New Zealand and local government in NSW. They have similar responsibilities for service delivery, although they appear to take on more profit-generating businesses than we do. The main issue they have is a very restrictive rating system. They have to prepare grant applications for the State Minister of Local Government for a ”grant” to increase their rates above the decreed limit. As a result they struggle with maintaining infrastructure assets such buildings, roading and stormwater.

Water and wastewater assets are operated and maintained under separate enabling legislation that seems to ensure adequate provisions for maintenance and renewal. However, anecdotally, some rural councils are letting some of their roads revert to shingle because they cannot afford to maintain or renew the seal. They also have the ability to collect Development Contributions, similar to ours, from developers of projects that increase the demand on their infrastructure.

NSW councils are presently awaiting an amendment to their Local Government Act which is expected to introduce some of our planning requirements in terms of a strategic plan (similar to our LTCCP but with a shorter planning period) but without our power of general competence.

I found that because of the more permissive nature of our governing legislation, councils in New Zealand are in general better able to manage their own business than our transtasman neighbours.

The objective of the trip was to find out how councils in NSW funded capital development in particular. In general terms I found that they behaved much as we do, but with more constraints due to their ability to raise revenue. Some councils are relatively wealthy, often because of historical investments in land, and have extensive and high amenity community infrastructure that has been paid for by way of land subdivision.

The trip was a worthwhile professional development opportunity and I would like to thank Jardine Lloyd Thompson for sponsoring the award.

Sponsored by: 

 

Wentzville Bound

Robert Mallinson
Corporate Services Manager
West Coast Regional Council

My SOLGM 2008 USA Manager Exchange allowed me to take a study tour of local government entities in the Western St Louis, Missouri, area, then attend the International City Managers Association (ICMA) 2008 conference in Richmond, Virginia.

The exchange, during September, was made possible by the sponsorship of Civic Assurance Ltd. I was privileged to be able to attend the ICMA 2008 conference in Richmond, the capital city of Virginia. Richmond is a very attractive and historic southern city of about 200,000 people.

Wentzville is in the western part of St Charles County, which is part of the greater St Louis City area. The city has experienced phenomenal growth during the past several years, increasing in population from about 7000 people in 2000 to an estimated 25,000 people in 2008. This is evident in the growth of a “new” retail area and numerous new subdivisions and houses. The population projection for 2020 is 56,000.

The scope of responsibilities undertaken by cities such as Wentzville was much wider than in New Zealand, as they also have responsibilities for policing and Municipal Court services.

In Missouri, as in the other 49 states, local government is a legislative creation of state governments. This effectively limits the potential for widespread restructuring or reform of local government in the USA, except on a state initiative basis.

It was evident at least in the St Charles County area, that there were varying degrees of tension between the respective municipalities and the county. In many ways this tension was similar to that between the two tiers of local government in New Zealand – the regional and territorial.

Annexation was a big issue and intriguing to a New Zealander who views city/district/regional boundaries as relatively fixed, except as otherwise determined by the Local Government Commission. The Aldermen and appointed officials in Wentzville City had experienced the challenge and privilege of providing for the infrastructural needs of a city experiencing exponential growth between 2000 and 2008, with further substantial growth expected through to 2020.

The General Motors Wentzville assembly plant is a key component in the local economy and the loss of that plant would be a huge (but not necessarily fatal) blow to the local economy. The cities I visited were well served by a very professional group of local government “Chief Executives” and second tier managers.

The budgeting process is routine and involves substantial and concentrated effort by the City Administrator and Departmental Directors. There isn’t really any performance reporting as we would understand it in the New Zealand context. Discussions with the Wentzville Directorate indicated that this is an area that they definitely see a need for.

Reliance on sales tax revenue is fine when the economy is booming, but creates budget difficulties when there is a downturn in the economy.

Annual Statutory Reporting is in accordance with Governmental Accounting Standards Board requirements and the format appears quite prescriptive, with no real performance information.

The exchange to the United States providedme with a unique opportunity to gain insights and add to my knowledge about local government.

Sponsored by

Flying our Flag in Canada

Susan Jones
Human Resources Manager
Gore District Council

I was thrilled to be notified about this time last year of my successful application to SOLGM for the Jardine Lloyd Thompson Overseas Manager Exchange to British Columbia.

My application focused on a range of primarily human resource issues, including best practices in recruitment, human resource planning, remuneration, collective agreement negotiations, performance management and appraisal, and staff training. Above all, it offered a wonderful and unique experience into how local government generally, operated in another country.

My exchange partner had already been selected. Stan Westby is the Chief Administrative Officer at the City of Powell River, on the western coast (known as the Sunshine Coast) of British Columbia and about 130km north-west of Vancouver.

My husband and I spent six days in Powell River before heading north to Prince George, venue for the LGMA’s Annual Conference. The Mayor of Powell River, Stewart Alsgard, had directed that the New Zealand flag be
flown at the council offices for the week of my visit. It was a great honour to see our flag being flown in another country.

Powell River was reincorporated as a city in October 2005. It has a population of nearly 13,000 people and covers an area of just under 30 sq km. This compares to the Gore District, that has a population of 12,500 and
an area of 1250 sq km.

One fact that struck me was the high number of local government units that exist and operate throughout the province and how some processes reminded me of what New Zealand local government was like before the 1989 amalgamation reforms – in particular, electoral processes and the retention of in-house works and services and planning departments. There appeared to be a strong reluctance to use consultants, especially with hard-to-fill positions such as engineers.

All monthly council meetings at Powell River are filmed and shown live on the local television channel. The meeting was then screened again every day until the next meeting was held. The only time a council meeting screening was delayed was when an ice hockey game was played.

Attending the LGMA annual conference was also another highlight. The format was different to our own SOLGM conference, but nonetheless proved very interesting with the two keynote speakers highly inspiring and entertaining. The reception from everyone we met was so warm and sociable. The Canadian people generally are extremely friendly. The best part was they know about New Zealand!

The 2010 Winter Olympics are being hosted by the city of Vancouver. It will showcase both the city and wider area splendidly to the world. The infrastructure being provided for the Olympics is outstanding and the city has embraced sustainability and green buildings.

The experience overall was simply superb and will never be forgotten. The chance to visit another country and see how local government operated was very much appreciated.

To cap it all off, we have new-found friends who loved their return visit to New Zealand in September and we are planning another visit to Canada in 2010.

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