Local Democracy Reporting spoke to Gisborne District Council mayoral candidates, Rehette Stoltz (above), Colin Alder (left), and Jono Samson (right). Photo: LDR / SUPPLIED
Gisborne District Council has not informed the public about any of its 55 workshops this term, which started in 2022.
Although 53 of the 55 workshops as of September 3 had been technically open, the council had not notified the public, as it said it "may not always be practical or reasonable".
Workshops are informal gatherings of elected members, where no decisions are made, but councillors can learn and discuss important matters affecting the council.
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Because they do not have the same legalities surrounding their conduct as council meetings, the council is not legally obligated to take minutes, notify or invite the public.
However, in 2023 former Ombudsman Peter Boshier called for councils to have better transparency regarding meetings and workshops.
Local Democracy Reporting asked the region's three mayoral candidates what they thought of the council's standing orders regarding workshops.
Mayor Rehette Stoltz said staff were working to see how they would notify the public of workshops.
"It is a work in progress; there is still massive room for improvement."
She said when she first started at the council 15 years ago, there was an assumption that workshops were not open to the public, but this was changing.
"I think councillors and the public want to work closer together, and that can only happen if we share stuff right from the beginning.
"I would be open in future for it to be publicised like a meeting... I can hand-on-heart say that this council have worked with the guidelines from the Ombudsman."
The Chief Ombudsman's report, "Open for business", recommended that council meetings and workshops be open by default as a matter of transparency.
Workshops and the details of the workshop should also be publicised in advance, even if the council resolves to exclude the public, and the meeting's records should be kept, the report said.
At the time, Mayor Rehette Stoltz said the council would consider a more transparent approach to advising the public about workshops.
Mayor of Gisborne Rehette Stoltz. (File photo) Photo: RNZ / Angus Dreaver
However, in May last year, councillors voted to maintain the status quo of workshops under its standing orders when presented with options to increase transparency.
"Since that May meeting, there was an assumption from elected members that workshops were open," Stoltz said.
The vote would remain until the council received the Local Government New Zealand's (LGNZ) standing orders guidance, which was updated in March 2025.
Stoltz told LDR it made sense to wait for LGNZ's advice on best practice, as the council advocacy group had commissioned law firm Simpson Grierson to review the Ombudsman's recommendations and had feedback from councils across the country.
She said standing orders would be reviewed under the new council to ensure it was "fit for purpose and the public feels included".
"Under my leadership, we are moving into an era where we aim for absolute best practice."
First-term councillor and current mayoral and general ward candidate Collin Alder said he wanted increased "transparency" as one of his reasons for standing.
He was the only councillor who voted against the move to keep the standing orders as the status quo.
Alder said his stance had remained the same, and the standing orders needed to be amended.
"It's an ideal opportunity to show the public the workings behind the scenes and how we come to some of the conclusions we come to.
"I know some of the other councillors felt that they could not relax and speak freely if they were going to be exposed... we need to expose ourselves to the public... especially since a lot of people don't turn up to them," he said.
Jono Samson, who is running for the first time under both the general ward and as mayor, said he had spoken to a couple of former councillors on the topic.
"I think all workshops really should be open to the public to see and hear. But there could be examples where it is pertinent to keep it quiet."
He said one thing that had been brought to his attention was that in a workshop forum "there's no such thing as a stupid idea".
However, there was a risk media could create a "clickbait title" and "smear it around and make a different story".
If someone were to play devil's advocate during a workshop, there was a chance it could be taken completely out of context, he said.
He had noticed during campaigning that many questions from the public were directed at current councillors because of grievances, he said.
"There is a huge disconnect between what the people think the council does, what the council actually do, and what the council is capable of."
If elected, he wanted to educate the public on civics and the council's function in the community. Transparency was important, but so was the education that went along with it, he said.
As part of a Local Government Official Information Act response, the council said "while the Ombudsman encourages councils to open and notify workshops as a matter of good practice and transparency, this may not always be practical or reasonable".
Speaking with Local Democracy Reporting, a spokesperson from the Ombudsman's office (John Allen became the Chief Ombudsman in March) stated that if the council decided to close a workshop, the Chief Ombudsman maintains that it should still generally be advertised so that the public can request information under a LGOIMA.
There will be occasions where it is reasonable to close workshops, with reasons that justify closing "meetings" in the LGOIMA as a good reference point, they said.
"Good records of workshops should also be kept."
Julian Rangihuna-Tuumuli, council democracy support services manager, said 47 workshops of the 55 had minutes and attendees recorded.
"It's important to note, it is not always possible for workshops to have minutes because they are not all facilitated in the same way - for example, some involve participants breaking out into smaller working groups, which makes it impractical (and often impossible) to capture all conversations in a record."
Before LGNZ updated its Standing Orders guide, GDC had already committed to embedding those standards into its business practices from June 2025 onwards, Rangihuna-Tuumuli said.
LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
