Nick Leggett offers sound election advice to Kapiti

Friday 15th July, Kapiti Coast - With nominations for council officially open, the Kapiti Coast Chamber of Commerce (KCCC) is urging Kapiti’s business leaders to put their names forward, after recent survey results show a communication breakdown between local council and the business community.

The survey results presented at Wednesday evening’s “Bring about Change” event hosted by the KCCC with guest speaker, Porirua Mayor, Nick Leggett, showed key areas of importance, as voted by the business community, as having low rates of satisfaction in terms of perceived council performance.

KCCC Chair, Liz Koh says: “There is a significant gap between what the business community perceives as important and satisfaction in those areas. It is my opinion that we need people with governance experience to step forward into these roles, many of which people can be found in our local business community.”

When asked what we should be looking for in elected members Nick Leggett offered some sound advice on the type of person needed in council:

“The ability to think strategically and for the long term, set a vision and drive towards achieving that. Ask questions about financial and operating performance. You also want elected members to be the community's voice at the council table, not the other way round. Too often councillors become defenders of the organisation. This is fatal because they will never see the need to change and improve.

They also need to be flexible, be able to compromise with their colleagues and not have to win everywhere! The job of elected member is about monitoring the performance of the CEO and whether their team is delivering on the expectations of the community and the elected council.”

The Chamber will be supporting all nominations that come forth with a landing page on their website covering important basic information, such as how to apply, what it takes to run a successful political campaign, and who to talk to within the community.

For more information on the survey results and to find out about more about council nominations please visit: www.kapitichamber.org.nz

ENDS.

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