4.1.5 Office of the Mayor
The Mayor of Auckland may set up an Office of the Mayor to help carry out their duties. This must be done:
- in consultation with and through the chief executive [1]
- within the budget set in the relevant annual plan [2].
The mayor directs the chief executive on how to establish the office and does not need to consult others. The chief executive:
- employs the staff on behalf of the council
- arranges the office space, equipment and related support services.
The mayor can also reorganise the office during their term, again in consultation with the chief executive.
Role of the Office of the Mayor
The Office of the Mayor exists to help the mayor carry out their role professionally and effectively. The office provides:
Administrative support
- Managing the mayor’s diary, travel, correspondence and meetings.
- Liaising with elected members and council staff.
- Coordinating the flow of mayoral business and full range of issues and responsibilities that arise in a day.
Communications support
- Preparing speeches and media releases.
- Managing social media, public relations, publicity and information services.
- Offering general communications advice.
Policy and political advice
- Providing free and frank policy and political advice.
- Maintaining a strategic overview of council business.
- Liaising with council staff and other stakeholders.
- Helping the mayor build support for key proposals and initiatives within the council.
All staff are subject to council policies, including rules around election and political involvement. The office must not support the mayor’s re-election campaign during work hours. Its role is to support the mayor in performing their official duties, not in political campaigning.
Staff and budget protocols
Staff
- The chief of staff leads the Office of the Mayor.
- The chief executive manages general employment and administrative matters in relation to the chief of staff and brings significant issues to the mayor’s attention.
- The office may include both political appointees and general staff, who are council employees or contractors and subject to council employment policies.
- Political staff typically remain for the mayor’s term. General staff are permanent council employees but should not expect to remain on staff when a new mayor is elected.
Budget
- The Governing Body allocates the office budget in the annual or long-term plan.
- This must be at least 0.2 per cent of the council’s total budgeted operating expenditure [3].
- The budget must cover all office costs including salaries, contractors and administration.
- The mayor may use this budget to support their role and reserve funds for specific projects.
Relationships within council
Relationship with the chief executive
The chief executive and chief of staff of the mayor’s office have an important working relationship based on mutual recognition of their roles.
How the relationship works:
- The chief executive sets up the office and formally employs its staff [4].
- The mayor can direct the chief executive on some aspects of this role [5], which differs from the chief executive’s usual autonomy.
- The chief of staff independently manages the office without the chief executive’s day-to-day involvement.
Relationship with council staff
Council staff may advise the office on aspects of the mayor’s role. For example, they may help with developing plans, budgets and policies. The scope of this work is agreed between the chief executive and chief of staff. The mayor’s office cannot direct council staff in their daily work. However, the chief executive ensures staff assist on issues relating to the mayor’s role.
With other elected members
Elected members do not have access to the office’s resources or staff unless the mayor and chief of staff agree.
The office may facilitate relationships by arranging meetings or sharing the mayor’s views with an elected member.
Elected members may ask the office for information. It is generally appropriate for the office to cooperate if it is relevant to the elected member’s role.
Information and privacy
The Office of the Mayor is part of Auckland Council and is subject to the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 (LGOIMA) [6]. This includes political or personal information about the mayor [7].
Some information may be able to be withheld to protect:
- privacy
- an obligation of confidence
- free and frank opinions [8].
Sometimes it may be unclear whether information is held by the office or staff member as an agent of the mayor personally [9].
To ensure compliance, the office must have clear protocols for identifying and handling official information requests. These should align with council’s LGOIMA policies and be developed with the chief executive.
Visit Council-held information for more.
Footnotes
[1] Local Government (Auckland Council) Act 2009, s 9(3)(e) and (4).
[2] Local Government (Auckland Council) Act 2009 s 9(3)(e) and (4).
[3] Local Government (Auckland Council) Act 2009 s 9(3)(e) and (4).
[4] Local Government (Auckland Council) Act 2009 Section 9(3)(e) and (4).
[5] Local Government Act 2002 s 42(2)(g).
[6] Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987, s2, definition of official information.
[7] There is no exception in LGOIMA relating to political information.
[8] Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987, s7(2)(a), (c), (f).
[9] Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987, s2, definition of official information.