Selwyn's mayor has admitted to having a hectic first year in office, bringing a largely new council together despite a year disrupted by unexpected challenges.
Lydia Gliddon won the Selwyn mayoralty by a landslide victory one year ago, an outcome she described as a “clear mandate from the community for change” at the time.
Gliddon had one term as councillor before becoming mayor of an almost completely new-look Selwyn District Council, and after a difficult first year on the job, the thing she is proudest of is the council itself.
“We had eight new councillors come on board, and some people thought we would fail.
“Bringing that many new people up to speed isn't easy, but they are doing a fabulous job, and you would not classify them as new to the job anymore.”
The biggest achievement as mayor to date has been reducing the rates rise this year to 4.5%, down from the forecast 13.3%, she said.
“That took a lot of work by councillors and staff.
“Council's debt is also $70m lower than a year ago and well under budget.”
Gliddon said she knew being mayor would be busy but “didn't expect our chief executive to resign within two months, or to be responding to 13 government reforms in under a year”.
She was frustrated that “some of what I wanted to get going, like proper ward forums across the district, has taken longer than I hoped, because so much of the year went on things we didn't see coming”.
The biggest interruption was when the Government announced local government reforms in May, which had councils spend three months focussed on developing reorganisation proposals.
Adding to the frustration, after being given a tight deadline to deliver proposals, the Government delayed making a decision until early next year – after the election.
Gliddon said no matter who formed the next government, she would like to see “certainty on local government reform, so councils can plan” and no more new responsibilities handed to councils from the Government without the money to deliver them.
She would also like funding tools “that let growth pay for growth, including fixing the gap that stops Selwyn Water recovering fast-track infrastructure costs”.
Gliddon felt she had grown into the role of mayor after “not trusting my gut enough early on”.
“In the first few months I was learning the role while we went through induction and started scoping the annual plan.
“There were times something didn’t feel right, and I didn’t push as hard as I should have, because I was still finding my feet. I’ve learned from that.”
She said she was also putting a stronger focus on “how much good process matters”.
“When I started, council wasn't really using its standing orders. Getting the basics right has made a real difference to the quality of decisions - how we debate, what comes to the table and when, and making sure councillors have the information before they're asked to decide.
“The job is less about my own views and more about getting eleven people to make good decisions together.”
The biggest decision facing the district over the next 12 months was a reset on its long-term plan, Gliddon said.
“It will set rates, services, and investment for the next 10 years in one of the fastest-growing districts in the country.
“We put some hard decisions off this year to keep rates down, and they're now due.
“We're testing every budget line against the services residents actually receive, and we'll give the community clear options with real costs so people can see the trade-offs.”
LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
