Online Forum: Infocouncil - LG Hub Governance Professionals and Committee Advisors

David Ward, Chief Executive of Selwyn District Council has been involved in local government since 1991, spending the first 17 years as Corporate Services Manager for Tasman District Council, then six years as Chief Executive at Horowhenua District Council before taking up his current role at Selwyn District Council in July 2013.

David is focused on ensuring that local government is planning appropriately for its changing demographic and local economies. David is also a champion of local government best practice and of developing staff within the Local Government sector. David is a qualified accountant. Prior to entering local government, David worked in the commercial sector.

Jonathan is a member of Simpson Grierson’s environment and planning group, specialising in public law and local government in particular. He is one of New Zealand's leading experts on the structures, processes, and funding of local government, with significant experience in council’s rating functions and associated decision-making.

Kathryn is a Senior Associate in Simpson Grierson's local government and environment group in Wellington. She often helps councils respond to requests for official information or personal information, and to handle complaints made to the Ombudsmen and Privacy Commissioner. Kathryn also advises councils on a wide range of issues under the Local Government Act 2002, including decision-making and consultation, meeting requirements and Standing Orders, making and reviewing bylaws, elections, and CCO governance. She is also experienced in advising elected members on conflicts of interest, including bias and predetermination issues and disqualifying contracts. Kathryn really enjoys working with her council clients, helping them to help their communities.

Jo Miller has been Chief Executive of Hutt City Council since July 2019. She is working with a new Mayor and Council, staff, iwi, partners and the community to ensure Lower Hutt is the very best it can be for all its people.

Jo previously held one of the most high-profile local government jobs in the UK, with an outstanding track record for motivating people, creating solutions and brokering agreements in major housing, economic regeneration and capital investment schemes.

As Chief Executive at Doncaster Council, Jo was recognised as having brought exceptional growth and optimism to a previously economically depressed town. The Local Government Chronicle said Doncaster had been “dragged up from the depths of despair to something to be proud of.”

Landmark projects with a total investment of £2 billion boosted economic performance, putting Doncaster in the UK’s top ten for growth. Jo was elected President of the Society of Local Authority Chief Executives in 2016 - 2019 and led the leadership portfolio on behalf of the profession. In 2017 the Local Government Chronicle named her the third most influential person in local government.

Toi is Ngai Tūhoe and lives on his papakainga at the borders of Te Urewera. He has worked in radio and television over the last two decades as a producer, director and presenter but has diversified recently in to Local Government. His passion is community and environmental regeneration. He is the Kohi constituency councillor for the Bay of Plenty Regional Council.

Yvonne has been part of the Local Government governance whānau for quite some time. She began her local government career as Tauranga City Council’s first Policy Analyst before moving into the Governance Manager’s role at both Tauranga City Council and Bay of Plenty Regional Council spanning 18 years. Yvonne enjoys working in a political environment providing governance advice and guidance to Chief Executives and Elected Members.

Yvonne has an interest in reframing the role of Governance Services to having a more strategic relationship focus within Councils.

Francis Ryan is Kaiwhakahaere Mana Urungi, Manapori | Head of Governance and Democracy at Greater Wellington Regional Council. Prior to joining Greater Wellington Francis worked in four central government ministries, which including a secondment as Private Secretary to the Minister of Regional Development. Francis has previously been a member of the Taituarā Democracy and Participation Reference Group.

Clare has been working in local government since 2001 and had experience in four councils working in democracy services/governance for all of that time. Prior to that I worked in the select committee office at Parliament for a number of years.

Since 2008 Clare has been involved in elections being either an electoral officer or deputy since then. She is an election nerd and will be following our results in September and in November for the States. Outside of work she explores her new home town of Dunedin, is an avid reader and loves getting out to hear live music.

Rick has worked with Council for a total of 17 years. Since 2011 his role as Governance Lead sees him focussed primarily on providing support to Council, Lakes Community Board, Rural Community Board and Te Tatau o Te Arawa members. Together with a small team of Governance Advisors they are dedicated to leading the organisation’s commitment to work in partnership with the communities of the district.

Matt is the Governance Process Specialist for the Christchurch City Council. He has worked in a number of roles with the Council since 2012 mainly in the continuous improvement space.

Prior to his move to the governance area four years ago, Matt spent 15 years doing continuous improvement initiatives for central and local government. This has included project management roles for process improvement and technology implementation projects – one such project was implementing Infocouncil and LG Hub in Christchurch, an area that proved so interesting that he has remained in governance ever since.

Lesley’s is currently the IM Toolkit Lead at ALGIM. A position she has held for over 4 years. The role is involves;

• maintaining the ALGIM IM Toolkit to ensure it is up to date, relevant and is meeting the needs of the Local Authority sector.
• providing advice on IM issues
• providing IM consultancy services

Lesley has worked in the information and records management sector for Local Government for several years. During this time, she has been involved in strategy development, assisted with the implementation of three EDRMS, developed four business classification schemes, implemented disposal schedules, written, and implemented numerous information and records management policies and procedures.

Alice is the Information Manager at Hutt City Council. After several years in information and privacy roles across central government Alice has recently moved into local government where she heads the Hutt City Council Team responsible for releasing official information.

Angela Jane is the Manager of Strategic Planning at Masterton District Council. She has been working in local government for the last 24 years, starting out as a Committee Advisor before taking on management roles mainly in governance, policy and planning. Working with elected members is her passion - finding better ways for them to understand their role and help their decision-making is a key driver for continuous improvements.

Jo is the Council Secretary and Electoral Officer for the Christchurch City Council. She has been with the Council since 2008, as a Community Board Advisor until becoming the Council Secretary in 2016.

Jo has worked in governance coordination and leadership roles in local and central government for most of the last 18 years. This included roles with the then Auckland Regional Council, MfE and DIA working on the Royal Commission on Auckland Governance.

Mary is the Manager Governance and Support Services at Nelson City Council. Previous roles in the local government sector include Privacy Programme Manager at Auckland Council and a variety of roles in Democracy at Hamilton City Council. With a background in law, prior to this Mary worked for the Property Ombudsman in England. Mary is a member of Taituarā’s Electoral Subcommittee.

Becca is the Governance Manager at Hamilton City Council and has worked in various roles and departments in Local Government over the last 10 Years. She has a passion for thinking differently about governance, and has a special interest in advocating for transparency and increasing public participation and engagement in the democratic process.

Raymond re-joined Taituarā in June 2014 as Sector Improvement Manager, before commencing his current role as Chief Advisor at Taituarā. He has spent most of the last 20 years in local government related roles, most recently with the Department of Internal Affairs.

He describes his job as two-thirds providing assistance to the local government sector and one-third providing advice to central government on local government matters. His ambition is to help develop a Local Government Act that doesn’t require changes every 18 months. He asks that you wish him well with this task.

Sarah is a partner in the local government and environment group in Simpson Grierson’s Christchurch office, specialising in environmental and planning law.

She has extensive experience in strategic planning and policy work, including through her role acting for Christchurch City Council following the earthquakes, and more recently for Queenstown Lakes District Council on its on-going and litigious plan review. Sarah also specialises in infrastructure and property development projects under the RMA and related legal regimes, including obtaining resource consents and notice of requirements. Through this work, Sarah has plenty of experience in the various courts and enjoys working in multi-disciplinary project teams.