Candidate information
Kaipara District Council is calling for nominations for the ‘Ratepayer’ membership of the Raupō Drainage Committee as per the Committee Terms of Reference ‘Membership Review’.
A minimum of four ratepayer members are required, and there are currently six on the committee. Candidates wishing to be nominated will need to complete a nomination form and have the form seconded by another ratepayer.
Nomination forms will be sent via mail/email to Raupō Drainage District ratepayers, Nominations open Thursday 1 May and close at midday on Friday 23 May.
Key dates
- Nominations open Thursday 1 May 2025
- Nominations close Friday 23 May 2025 at midday
- Candidates confirmed (if Election not required) June 2025
- Voting period (if Election required) Monday 9 June to Saturday 28 June 2025 at midday
- Provisional Result, posted on Council website 7 July 2025
- Decision goes to Council Meeting Wednesday 30 July 2025
How much of my time will be needed?
The term of office for ratepayer committee members is three years, 2025–2028. The time commitment depends on what is happening for the committee. Below is a guideline from past years.
Meetings: Attend three ‘ordinary’ meetings scheduled per year (start, middle and end of year), usually two hours duration. Attend Extraordinary Meetings if required.
Location: Meetings are usually held in the Ruawai-Tokatoka Memorial Hall.
Reading: Complete reading ahead of meetings. Agendas are circulated by email three clear working days ahead of the meeting.
Community: Members represent their fellow Raupō ratepayers, so are committing to being available to the community and be prepared to spend the time, sometimes outside of traditional business hours.
Who will help me if I am elected?
You are not alone in this role and you are not expected to know and understand everything when first elected.
The Governance Team, Committee Chair, Committee Lead Officer, and Chief Executive support elected members.
What specific skills will be helpful?
To be effective in representing your community, supporting good governance the following behaviours are helpful:
Be open and sincere:
- Be proactive in engagement with others and share publicly available information about Council decisions and activities
- Take ownership and responsibility for your actions and not misrepresenting yourself or others for personal gain
Be impartial:
- Act in the best interests of your community
- Declare any interests that could be perceived as a conflict to being impartial
Be positive and respectful:
- Have positive and collaborative values and behaviours and discourage unethical behaviour
- Be able to argue the issue and facts under discussion without attacking others’ competence or personality
- Work respectfully with Council staff and other partners and value their roles, advice, and contribution
Be responsible:
- Work to promote issues or actions you believe are in the public good across a range of considerations, both ethical and financial
- Be prepared to defend committee decisions in the long term interests of the whole community
Be culturally aware:
- Be capable of understanding and empathising with all cultures and aspirations; this includes working to understand the impact of decisions on diverse communities and cultures
Act in the public interest:
- Always consider the interests of the whole community in order to reflect the wishes of most, rather than a sole group or special interest faction
- Always listen carefully to all advice and views and weigh up all the pros and cons before making recommendations or decisions
Leadership, communication, and relationship management:
- Provide direction and making things happen in accordance with the Terms of Reference
- Build productive, collaborative, supportive relationships
- Be a clear and confident communicator
Strategic thinking and quality decision making:
- Understand local priorities and how they relate to national and international developments and strategies
- Be able to get to the bottom of issues and assess the pros and cons of different options
- Make decisions based on advice, community views, wisdom, experience, and informed judgement
- Be financially prudent with an understanding of risk
Understanding of complex, technical information:
- Be able to unpack large volumes of information and use that information to guide decision making
- Understand the role of the Council and its financial language, budgets, and processes.
- Understand and comply with relevant legislation
Any queries, please contact Governance Advisor Alana Thurston,
athurston@kaipara.govt.nz or phone 0800 727 059
