Turley ranked tops in TDC meeting attendance count

Being an elected representative on Tasman District Council is the equivalent of a fulltime job and you should turn up, says a firstterm councillor with a nearperfect attendance record.

The TDC roll for meetings of the full council and its committees, between October 2016 and the end of July, reveals Moutere-Waimea Ward councillor Anne Turley has been at them all except for two gatherings of the environment and planning committee.

‘‘It’s definitely a fulltime job, and it’s not a 9 to 5 job,’’ Turley said.

It was important to attend meetings of the full council and its committees because there was ‘‘a lot of information to take on board’’, she said.

In addition to formal meetings, councillors also gather for workshops, which are held behind closed doors. A lot of material was discussed in workshops, and attendees often came out with an idea of how they were likely to vote, Turley said. ‘‘I would like more public participation in the workshops.’’

While Turley tops the attendance figures, other councillors are not far behind, including Moutere-Waimea Ward representative Dean McNamara and Motueka Ward councillor David Ogilvie, who have each missed just three meetings. The rest of the elected representatives attended between 92 (Mark Greening and Paul Hawkes) and 100 (Stuart Bryant) of the 105 meetings held to date.

Tasman Mayor Richard Kempthorne, who attended 93 meetings, said he was very pleased with the attendance record of the elected representatives over the past term.