Local Government Magazine

Dates for your Diary

2019 September 15 – 17 ALGIM Spring Conference: Customer Experience and Web & Digital. Town Hall, Christchurch September 17 Water New Zealand. Pre-conference workshop: preparing for regulation. Claudelands, Hamilton September 18 – 20 Water New Zealand Conference & Expo. Claudelands, Hamilton September 23 – 24 Maori...

Communication

Online abuse

Abusive and threatening comments on social media are on the increase. Ruth Le Pla charts the rise of online nastiness towards local body candidates and elected members and asks what can be done about it. Is it time to bring in stricter controls to stamp out online abuse of local government elected officers? Is that even possible in a democracy...

Management

Jo Miller Unlocking talent

Jo Miller has just taken up the reins as CE at Hutt City Council. She spoke with Ruth Le Pla about transforming local government in the UK, and the power of collaborative leadership and community cohesion. For Hutt City Council, the recent appointment of Jo Miller as its chief executive appears to be a bit of a coup. Not that anyone is saying as...

Communication

Lance Burdett - Pouring oil on troubled councils

Lance Burdett used to be a crisis negotiator. Now he helps councils handle angry, aggressive or threatening customers. He spoke with Ruth Le Pla about silence, managing five generations’ worth of anger and the surprising power of humility. Lance Burdett used to make a living talking people down from the ledges of tall buildings. Ok, that was...

Opinion

For God’s sake have an idea

SIR BOB HARVEY / HOW TO WIN THE NEXT ELECTION Elections are won by hard work and the power of positive thinking. Victor Hugo wisely said, “Nothing is more powerful than an idea whose time has come.” I used this quote extensively while campaigning in west Auckland and I have mentored many politicians on making a visible, tangible idea their...

Management

Kathryn Ross - Executive leader

SOLGM has been running a programme for executive leaders for three years now. Ruth Le Pla asked Kathryn Ross, a member of its first ever cohort, what difference the programme has made to her skills and her career. When Kathryn Ross applied to do SOLGM’s LG Executive Leaders Programme back in 2016 she was stepping into unknown territory. Kathryn...