Debate over whether Tauranga City should return to having Local Body Elections this October keeps churning as community figures fear the work of the current Commission could be undone by the return to power of elected officials.

The discussion has surfaced recently after Local Government Minister Nanaia Mahuta saying she remains committed to a return to council elections in Tauranga City. But she is yet to signal when this would happen and what that might look like after the Commission's exit strategy is finalised.

If the Minister decides to retain the Commission for the foreseeable future that election could be delayed until 2025.

One community leader who wants the Commissioners to stay in place is Te Tuinga Whanau Trust chief imagination officer Tommy Wilson.

'The commissioners have done more in their tenure [since February 2021] than the previous 10 years of council,” says Tommy.

'The time is over that the tail wags the dog within the delegated authority of council employees and elected councillors.”

Tommy says he has no confidence in the calibre of the people who have looked after the city before the Commission was appointed, based on how they have looked after the city's homeless.

The Te Tuinga Whanau Trust has been working in the area of homelessness for 37 years and Tommy has been working with and involved with the trust for 10 years.

Te Tuinga Whanau offers accommodation to people requiring a roof over their heads but also works alongside each individual to support them with wrap-around social services they need.

'We've had no interest in us apart from ex-Mayor Tenby Powell, and councillors Terry Molloy and John Robson.

'There has been no Māori representative at the council either but now we have Shadrach Rolleston as an appointed Commissioner – and that's big for Tauranga Moana.

'He's well-respected, and from a cultural view that makes sense.”

Te Tuinga Whanau is now opening a wellness hub in Tauranga's CBD. 'We've met with the Commissioners now on three separate occasions but we've never met with council or any of the mayors in the 10 years I've been looking after Te Tuinga Whanau,” says Tommy.

When people say Tauranga City should go back to voting in councillors, 'I say the opposite,” says Tommy.

Te Tuinga Whanau withdrew from Tauranga City Council's - TCC - homelessness taskforce when in 2018 the council brought in the People's Project, which Tommy says is a foreign organisation born out of California and based in Hamilton.

'People's Project received $600,000 of TCC funding with council-appointed managers who transferred from senior council roles when the new CEO took over. Why would we be involved in that structure? That is not about our people,” says Tommy.

'People's Project has nothing to do with an organisation such as Te Tuinga Whanau, which has been doing this work for 37 years in Tauranga Moana. So we left the table.

'Minister Mahuta needs to understand why it's [the council is] working now and why it wasn't working before, from a Māori point of view, from an organisation like Te Tuinga Whanau that's looking after 4000 Māori a year without any assistance from council,” says Tommy.

'Keep the commissioners in. The tail has been wagging the dog way too long.”

Tommy thinks if any changes were made, it should be bringing in retiring Western Bay of Plenty Mayor Garry Webber as an additional commissioner.

'If they're looking for a fifth commissioner to lead the city who understands Tikanga Māori and understands how to run an inclusive council, you couldn't do better than engaging Garry Webber.

'He has come in to see us at Te Tuinga monthly way before and during his mayoralty [at Western Bay of Plenty District Council].

'He and his wife Carole have been supporters since day one when we started in Greerton. Garry understands and has a heart – something that needs pumping back into the soul of the CBD of Tauranga Moana.”

Following an independent review, Minister Mahuta made the decision to appoint a Commission in place of elected TCC members in December 2020, in response to what she deemed significant governance problems from elected officials.

While the business community has also spoken with praise for the commission, local ratepayer groups have, however, been critical of the commission.

So far, SunLive understands only three of the councillors stood down from TCC one year ago have plans to run again, should elections take place in October. For more on this, see: https://www.sunlive.co.nz/news/287326-elections-will-stood-down-councillors-run-again.html