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Role of a council ceo
Chief executives of local authorities act on council’s strategic
direction, funnel advice and report on action from staff to councillors.
Chief executives must be ‘capable of delivering adequate advice to the local authority to facilitate the explicit resolution of conflicting objectives’, says the Local Government Act 2002 (LGA 2002). A chief executive needs to reflect and reinforce the separation of regulatory responsibilities and decision-making processes from other responsibilities.
Of course the chief executive is expected, by law, to maintain systems to enable effective planning and accurate reporting of the financial and service performance of the local authority. As councils and communities seek outcomes that involve partnerships with neighbours, central government agencies and others, chief executives’ management responsibilities effectively grow. They face the challenge of managing relationships inside and outside their control.
LGA 2002 envisages that the elected council will exercise its governance role by managing two critical relationships:
- with its communities
- with the local authority chief executive, and the organisation the chief executive leads.
Reach out
Manukau’s Mayor and chief executive clearly see a need for a regional approach to social, economic and environmental issues. So Colin Dale sees his role as reaching out and facilitating regional approaches – and including district health boards and schools in the city’s dialogue. He sees a choice between a collaborative regional approach involving local authorities and the Auckland Regional Council (ARC) – and the development of a regional body to develop top-level strategy based on a vision for Auckland, followed by cooperation with central government.
The settlement programme reflected by the Auckland Regional Migrant Services Trust is an example of a regional strategy aligned to a national programme.
Colin Dale sees multiculturalism and growth as Manukau’s greatest challenges. The Council report Tomorrow’s Manukau – which preceded the first of the nation’s long–term council community plans for territorial local authorities – sets out the vision to answer such challenges. Alliances with government agencies, business, community organisations, mana whenua, Pasifika and others identified in Tomorrow’s Manukau are basic to Manukau’s philosophy: Manukau can’t produce the investment that it needs on its own.
Long-serving Colin Dale
Colin Dale is Manukau City’s city manager – one of the longest serving in such a role in New Zealand. His role is to implement the decisions made by the elected members of the Manukau City Council. He joined Manukau City in 1964 from a community health background, and worked through community development roles to the top, in the rapidly growing multicultural city.
He is concerned that recently only 40% of the electorate have voted in council elections – and that the young are participating less. Although he has personally worked to foster participation by different groups in Manukau City affairs, he says that, while necessary, advisory groups are not enough. Representation around the council table has more impact on city decision-making than being an advisor, he says.
Colin Dale chairs the Auckland region Chief Executives’ Forum, and a sustainable development steering group – which includes officials from local and central government in the Auckland region. One of its initiatives is to put an action plan for the region to Ministers with urban affairs and economic development portfolios. He says the essence of the Auckland region’s Mayoral Forum – which is not a decision-making body – is to get cooperation on key regional strategies such as the Regional Growth Strategy and the Auckland Regional Economic Development and Land Transport Strategy.
