Council emergency meeting today for governance continuity

Council will hold an emergency meeting today to make decisions on how it will run meetings and continue to govern during the shutdown period that has been imposed by government in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

By law, elected members must be physically present in a meeting when a council or committee decision is made. This is to make a quorum, which is the minimum number of members of an assembly that must be present.

In today's meeting councillors will be presented a report so they can consider recommendations of alternative decision making processes.

Council is often required to take swift action to put plans in place so that it can make decisions as necessary. Some urgent decisions may relate directly to the response to Covid-19, while others may be necessary for the continued operation of Council services.

The situation is not unique to Opotiki, with councils across the country grappling with the same issue.

Ōpōtiki District Council officers have recommended that decision making quorums are reduced to two. Any elected member would still be entitled to vote via audio or visual link.

Councillors will also be updated on planning the executive leadership team have undertaken to define critical council services and any changes that may be implemented to help simplify things for our community during these challenging times.